St. Joseph

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.

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 Buchanan County, the county that contains St. Joseph.

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 Buchanan County, the county that contains St. Joseph.

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 Buchanan County, the county that contains St. Joseph.

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.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jul 26, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The highway department reported downed trees up to 4 feet in diameter, and a tree blown down onto a car. A 90-foot flagpole was broken. A building under construction in an industrial park sustained over $1 million in damage.

2. Oct 4, 1998Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms containing very heavy rainfall over West Central Missouri on October 4th resulted in several episodes of major flash flooding. The most deadly and costly flooding occurred in Jackson County where nine people lost their lives on the evening of October 4th. The Kansas City metropolitan area experienced the worst of the flooding which was similar in historical context as the devastating flash flood in September 1977. Several episodes of heavy rain producing thunderstorms commenced on the morning of October 4th and continued into early afternoon. In Lee's Summit, up to 10 people had to be rescued from a flooded apartment complex and the depth of the water on 3rd St…

3. Jun 4, 2005Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   F0 tornado crossed into Missouri near the Pony Express Bridge. The tornado produced a skipping path through northwest and north portions of St. Joseph. Numerous trees were damaged or uprooted. A few homes also lost their porches. Most damage to homes was caused by falling trees and tree limbs. The tornado exited into Andrew county 2 miles east of I-29 along U.S.Highway 169.

4. Mar 13, 2019Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Once the Missouri River started flooding on March 9, it remained in flood through the remainder of the month. The gauge in St. Joseph, Missouri reached 32.12 feet on March 22 (preliminarily a new record). The flooding was caused by several rounds of heavy snow across the Northern Plains through the winter months, followed by a rapid warm-up and several days of heavy rain. The Missouri River Basin across the Northern Plains flooded with catastrophic consequences as numerous dams and levees failed. As the water flowed into the Missouri River upstream of Buchanan County, the river swelled and ultimately overwhelmed the levees along the river. About 1,500 residents and 6,000 employees…

5. Apr 10, 2008Tornado$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Brief EF0 tornado touchdown at 1930 CST in the southern portion of Saint Joseph. Several buildings were damaged before the tornado lifted at 1932 CST. One injury was reported as well.

6. May 6, 2007Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Missouri River at Saint Joseph crested at 25.26 feet, or 8.26 feet above flood stage.

7. Jun 29, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Buchanan County Sheriff's Office reported damage to the roof of a school in De Kalb as a result of severe thunderstorm winds. Thunderstorm winds also blew a semi tractor trailer off the road along Highway 59 in South St. Joseph. There was also the report of structural damage to a home in South St. Joseph as a result of the strong winds. St. Joseph Power and Light reported that four main transmission line structures were destroyed in the storm resulting in a power loss for many customers for over 24 hours. Two barns were destroyed between De Kalb and Taos, and several other outbuildings were damaged.

8. Jun 19, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$40,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roofs were blown off several trailer roofs. The debris was strewn from southwest to northeast. An unstrapped trailer home was blown off its blocks and rolled. One to two foot diamater trees were blown down. Based on the EF kit, winds were estimated up to 89 mph.

9. May 6, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   200 foot cell telephone tower blown over.

10. Jun 8, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous reports of tree damage. Tree was reported down on a house at the 800 block of Main Street. Another tree also fell on a truck.

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

107°F2 times, most recently Jul 30, 1980

All-time low

−25°FJan 12, 1974

Warmest night

87°FJul 27, 1970

Coldest day

−4°FJan 14, 2024

Wettest day

4.74 inSep 13, 2016

Snowiest day

8.5 inMar 2, 1978

Hottest year

2024mean 57.2°F

Coldest year

1979mean 50.3°F

Wettest year

197355.60 in

Driest year

201119.46 in

Station St. Joseph Rosecrans Mem Airport (USW00013993), 807 ft elevation, 4.7 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 27, 2026; 98.7% 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 Buchanan 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 USW00013993.
• 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.