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Storms That Hit

NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database

Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Smithville, MO

Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.

Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated

No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Smithville, Missouri since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 104 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 13 of them rated EF3 or stronger.

Hurricanes
0

within 75 mi, since 1851

Tropical storms
0

below hurricane strength

Tornadoes
104

within 25 mi, since 1950

EF3 or stronger
13

4 deaths in all

What the records show for Smithville

The highest rating among the 104 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 6 times; the most recent, on May 4, 2003, came within 10 miles. Of the 104, 9 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 48 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 42. The most recent tornado was on June 3, 2025. Smithville has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 57% of the 334 Missouri cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 180 times since 1959, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Smithville has more hail reports within 10 miles than 79% of the 334 Missouri cities.

Compare Smithville's storm record with another city →

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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Smithville

By decade

  • 2020s10
  • 2010s11
  • 2000s27(4 EF3+)
  • 1990s3
  • 1980s7
  • 1970s8(1 EF3+)
  • 1960s24(6 EF3+)
  • 1950s14(2 EF3+)
Strongest tornadoes near Smithville, Missouri
DateRatingDistancePathKilled / injured
May 4, 2003F410 mi21 mi2 / 30
Jun 8, 1966F416 mi19.9 mi1 / 2
May 4, 2003F412 mi5 mi0 / 13
May 4, 1977F418 mi12 mi0 / 5
May 7, 1961F49 mi26.2 mi0 / 12
May 22, 1952F424 mi26.9 mi0 / 3
Apr 12, 1964F316 mi14 mi1 / 22
May 2, 2008EF38 mi0.92 mi0 / 0
May 29, 2004F316 mi7 mi0 / 0
Jun 26, 1969F38 mi10.1 mi0 / 5
Apr 10, 1965F321 mi23.2 mi0 / 11
May 19, 1960F324 mi13.3 mi0 / 1

The strongest 12 of 104, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.

Hail in Smithville

The Storm Prediction Center has 180 hail reports within 10 miles of Smithville since 1959, made on 102 separate days. Of these, 125 were 1 inch across or larger, and 15 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on September 13, 1965. The most recent report is from May 19, 2025. May has the most reports, 66.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.

Radar-estimated hail days in Smithville since 2019 →

Weather by month in Smithville

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Smithville Lake, MO, 1 mile east of Smithville at 904 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 36°F and 16°F. May is the wettest at 5.4 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.2 inches; the year adds up to 40.3 inches. Highs reach 90°F on about 30 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 119 nights a year. That 40.3 inches is more than at 24 of the 134 Missouri stations used on this site (18%). Kearney, 11 miles east, has its own station (Kearney 3E, MO): 41.3 inches a year, 1.0 more than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 87°F.

Monthly climate normals 1991–2020 at Smithville Lake, MO
MonthHigh °FLow °FPrecip. in
Jan36161.2
Feb42211.4
Mar53312.3
Apr64413.9
May73535.4
Jun82635.3
Jul87684.9
Aug85664.4
Sep78564.3
Oct66443.5
Nov53312.1
Dec42221.6
Year634340.3

Averages for 1991–2020 at Smithville Lake, MO (904 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.

Missouri weather by month, station by station →

Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Smithville

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 133 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Smithville: 108 thunderstorm wind reports, 14 flash floods, 9 floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $2.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on August 19, 2000. September has had the most flash floods, 3 of 14. Of the 334 Missouri cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 126 have had fewer than Smithville.

  • August 19, 2000: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Smithville — 2 injured, $800,000 damage.

    NWS: “Thunderstorm winds estimated at 80 mph tore through the Smithville Lake area. Extensive damage was done to a marina, where 40 to 45 boats were damaged, and two of four docks were damaged.”

  • March 6, 2017: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Smithville — 1 injured.

  • May 18, 2019: lightning strike 3 miles from the centre of Smithville — 1 injured.

    NWS: “A person was injured by lightning. The exact situation and extent of the injury is unknown.”

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.

Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings

Flood insurance policyholders in Smithville's ZIP code 64089 have filed 92 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $604,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Not a named storm in 1982: 66 claims (72% of all) and $435,000. 73% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 172 Missouri cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 103 have fewer than Smithville.

Flood insurance claims in Smithville by named event
EventClaimsPaid
Not a named storm198266$435,000

Clay County, which includes Smithville, has been named in 25 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 18 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 severe storms, 8 floods, 3 ice storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 26, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Clay County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding, strong wind and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $112.6 million a year, the 6th highest of 115 Missouri counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $43.3 million (38%), is from inland flooding.

Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.

Cities near Smithville

All Missouri cities →All hurricanes since 1851 →Compare Smithville with another place →

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