West Plains

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 storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 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 Howell County, the county that contains West Plains.

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.

The drought index is for Howell County, the county that contains West Plains.

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.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in Howell County.

Mapped by NASA (1).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 29, 2017Flash Flood$60.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extreme flash floods hit the West Plains area. All roads in and out of West Plains were flooded and impassable. Numerous structures were flooded, including 51 that were affected and 13 destroyed, two of which accounted for a very large share of the dollar damage. The Missouri State University campus in West Plains also suffered severe flood water damage. This report will contain the total dollar estimate for flood damage to infrastructure, businesses, and homes across Howell County.

2. Nov 4, 2024Flash Flood$5.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Trained spotters reported the intersection of Washington Avenue and Broadway Street in West Plains was impassable due to flash flooding. Additional county property damages were reported throughout the entire county, primarily to dirt roads and bridges. Damage cost estimates are a reflection of the county as a whole.

3. Mar 14, 2025Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is a continuation of the EF-3 tornado from Ozark County. This tornado traveled into southwest Howell County and continued to the northeast and passed just south of South Fork before causing damage along the portion of Highway 63 that turns southeast as it exits West Plains. The tornado finally lifted along Highway 160 seven miles east of West Plains. In Howell County, the tornado damaged numerous homes and uprooted numerous trees.

4. Apr 25, 2011Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Missouri Highway Patrol reported that a 65 year old man was swept off the road and drowned by a flooded creek near the the intersection of County Road 4740 and County Road 5130. This section of the road was not a low water crossing. The stream is an unnamed small headwater tributary to Spring Creek.||The city of West Plains experienced historical flash flooding on the evening of April 23rd. Areas around the city flooded due to very heavy rainfall. It was estimated about a million dollars of damage occurred with this event alone.||The total cost estimate for flooding damages for Howell County for this entire episode has been included. This includes roads, bridges, and…

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

   Sixty to 80 mph winds impacted central and northern Howell County. Damage to trees, power poles, and a few outbuildings were observed. The city of West Plains only sustained minor damage to a few roofs, meanwhile, areas in and around Willow Springs and Mountain View experienced extensive tree and structural damage.

6. May 8, 2002Flood, Howell$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The flash flooding event on the 7th and early 8th, became a major flooding event across all of southern and central Missouri through the early afternoon of May 9th. In addition to the numerous road closures, bridges blocked by debris, evacuations of towns, campgrounds, parks, and moderate river flooding, many communities had their worst flooding in more than 10 years. The American Red Cross set up shelters in Branson and Cassville due to evacuations. Flooded roadways forced several school districts across southwest Missouri to close for a few days. Several areas of west central Missouri also had crop damage.Specifically, the worst damage occurred in the following counties; In…

7. May 8, 2009Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that an EF-2 tornado tracked across rural sections of northern Howell County. The tornado damaged several homes and outbuildings. Numerous trees were also uprooted from the tornado. This tornado continued into southeastern Texas County.

8. Apr 27, 2002Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F2 tornado, plus associated destructive convergent winds around the tornadic circulation, caused extensive damage from 2 miles west of the Willow Springs Highway Patrol Headquarters, northeast to a mile and a half northeast of Willow Springs along Highway 378. Although the tornadic circulation was only 100 yards wide, it caused damage up to 300 yards wide. Large, century year old oak trees were uprooted throughout the area. West of the Willow Springs Highway Patrol Headquarters, a bass boat was thrown across two pastures and over two fences. A barn near this pasture was damaged. Troop G Headquarters had their 365' radio tower blown down. The tower landed on a home in the…

9. May 26, 2024Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS Storm Survey concluded that a low end EF-3 tornado with peak wind speeds near 140 mph started 7 miles west northwest of Mountain View in Howell County and travelled east for almost 13 miles before lifting north of Montier in Shannon County. This storm in Howell County severely damaged three homes and completely destroyed a manufactured home, damaged several businesses, and multiple outbuildings were also heavily damaged or destroyed before moving into Shannon County.

10. Nov 1, 2022Drought, Howell$1.1 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Drought conditions improved across Morgan County by the end of November. The US Drought Monitor indicated that Moderate (D1) drought conditions remained at the end of the month after several rainfall events helped ease drought conditions below severe (D2) drought levels. Impacts across the region were primarily felt in larger scale agriculture with farm and stock ponds low but improved. Dry conditions caused grasses to dry and significantly impact hay production causing losses in hay cutting. Many farmers saw impacts to row crops such as soy beans, corn and other specialty crops.

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

108°FAug 3, 2011

All-time low

−8°FFeb 16, 2021

Warmest night

79°FAug 3, 2011

Coldest day

4°FFeb 15, 2021

Wettest day

6.94 inApr 29, 2017

Hottest year

2024mean 60.8°F

Coldest year

2013mean 54.6°F

Wettest year

201961.84 in

Driest year

199928.41 in

Station W Plains Municipal Airport (USW00053901), 1,226 ft elevation, 10.0 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1996 to October 27, 2026; 99.4% 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 Howell 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 USW00053901.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.