Joplin

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Jasper County, the county that contains Joplin.

Claims by ZIP code

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).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Jasper County, the county that contains Joplin.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Jasper County, the county that contains Joplin.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 22, 2011Tornado$2.8 billion
   National Weather Service narrative

   National Weather Service survey teams rated the tornado that tracked across the southwest through east central portion of Joplin, Missouri, as an EF5 tornado. Maximum winds were estimated to have exceeded 200 miles per hour. The tornado had a maximum width of one mile and an overall path length of nearly 21.6 miles, nearly nine miles of which occurred in Jasper County.||The tornado killed 158 directly, three indirectly, and injured over 1150 people. Sadly, on May 24 a police officer who was volunteering from another department, was struck by lightning while serving in the response efforts and later died. Equally, a 56 year old man who had been included as a direct fatality was…

2. May 4, 2003Tornado$21.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado is a continuation of the Cherokee County, Kansas tornado. This feature crossed the Kansas-Missouri state line near the community of Smithfield, and then wreaked havoc through the center of Carl Junction. Around 112 homes and outbuildings were destroyed while 487 were damaged. The tornado claimed the lives of two local residents and injuring 15.Kenneth and Ethel LaNear ages 71 and 62, were taking shelter in a closet of their frame home when the tornado struck. Both were deceased from being struck into the ground and hit by flying debris.

3. Apr 28, 1996Tornado$12.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F1 tornado struck the south and southeast part of Joplin along the Jasper and Newton county line. The damage path was centered one-half mile north of the intersection of South Range Line Road and I-44. Eight businesses were heavily damaged, including three hotels. A dozen other businesses suffered minor damage, such as broken winds and trees downed on roofs. Minor wind damage, mostly confined to trees and signs down, occurred throughout the rest of the city.

4. May 22, 2019Tornado$5.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service storm survey determined that a tornado touched down north of Galena in Cherokee County, Kansas and moved quickly across the Missouri state line along SE 118th Street. The tornado increased in intensity as it tracked along West Evergreen Road and North Pheasant Lane before crossing Turkey Creek, causing damage to outbuildings and roofs. Sporadic minor damage continued to Fir Road before damage intensified, including throwing several cars from a salvage yard east of Highway JJ. It then increased further to EF-3 intensity as it carved a path through the Briarbrook Country Club subdivision with dozens of well-built two and three story homes suffering…

5. Dec 9, 2007Ice Storm, Jasper$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ice accumulations up to one and a half inches were observed across the northwest section of the county, while accumulations of one half inch to an inch were observed over the city of Joplin and other areas of the county. Asbury and Jasper were hit the hardest, with widespread power outages lasting for several days. Major tree and power line damage resulted along and north of a line from Joplin to Dudenville.

6. Nov 1, 2025Drought, Jasper$4.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Though below the monthly average, timely rain fell across the region through the month. This allowed for drought improvements to Moderate (D1) drought by the end of the month. Impacts across the region were largely limited to larger scale agriculture. However, farm and stock ponds saw impacts with ground water levels also falling. Crop loss estimates notated are for fall harvest loses from the summer into the fall.

7. May 8, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Sixty to 90 mph winds impacted nearly all of Jasper County. Damage to trees, structures, buisiness signs, and power poles was widespread. The most significant damage occurred from winds knocking over a television tower at KSN TV on the west side of Joplin. This television tower fell into portions of the studio building, and caused the station to be off-air for several weeks. Part of the tower also fell on a nearby residence, destroying a vehicle and damaging a house. Thousands of Jasper County residences were left without power for several days. Several other homes were damaged from large trees falling on them. The Joplin Globe estimated that at least 2,000 homes had some roof…

8. Aug 1, 2012Drought, Jasper$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The U.S Drought Monitor continued to report Extreme Drought (D3) to Exceptional Drought (D4) throughout the month of August. The region started seeing some rainfall by the end of the month. The COOP station near Carthage reported 5.43 of rainfall for the month of August. The Joplin ASOS reported 3.13 of rainfall for the month of August. This is a continuation of the drought that began across the region in June. As a result of the limited rainfall combined with the excessive heat, the USDA Service center in Jasper County indicated that crop losses were 75 percent of the spring planting. Many farmers and ranchers reported having to feed hay as pastures stopped growing and became dry…

9. May 3, 2020Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms moved out of southeastern Kansas and produced a swath of hail across Jasper County from Waco to Avilla. Hail from quarter to baseball in size were reported along the path of the storms. In Waco, as the storm entered Missouri, half dollar hail was reported. In Purcell, golf ball to tennis ball hail lasted for nearly 30 minutes causing damage to vehicles and homes. The hail continued across the county impacting Oronogo, where golf ball sized hail occurred, to the eastern edge of the county where ping pong to baseball sized hail fell in Avilla damaging homes and breaking windows out of vehicles.||Damage estimates ranged considerably, partially due to the…

10. May 10, 2008Tornado$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that an EF-1 tornado impacted rural areas east of Carthage. One fatality occurred from a large tree falling on a mobile home. A 17 year old female was struck by the tree when taking cover. Five other homes had moderate damage while numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. Several outbuildings were also destroyed.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

115°FJul 14, 1954

All-time low

−15°F3 times, most recently Feb 16, 2021

Warmest night

85°F2 times, most recently Jul 17, 1954

Coldest day

−1°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

7.12 inSep 30, 1986

Snowiest day

20.0 inMar 16, 1970

Hottest year

2012mean 61.5°F

Coldest year

1976mean 54.9°F

Wettest year

198565.25 in

Driest year

196318.35 in

Station Joplin Regional Airport (USW00013987), 972 ft elevation, 5.3 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 27, 2026; 99.8% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Jasper County.

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).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00013987.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.