Barry County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Barry County: 4.
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.

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.

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

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.

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 28, 2026Hail$94.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A hail swath from a mile to 3 miles wide began near Wheaton and continued to the northeast across Barry County. Hail from quarters to 3 inches in size fell along a path from Wheaton to Purdy to Pleasant Ridge as an intensifying left moving supercell moved to the northeast across the County. Along the storms path, numerous homes, vehicles, businesses, equipment, crops, livestock and other structures were damaged by hail before the storm passed into southeastern Lawrence County.

2. May 10, 2008Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado is an extension of the Newton County tornado. A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that an EF-2 tornado tracked across much of Barry County and directly impacted the community of Purdy. One man was killed as he was taking shelter in a mobile home. Numerous structures, trees, and power poles were destroyed.

3. Dec 26, 2015Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Route C near Flat Creek was closed due to high water. Numerous low water crossings, roads, and bridges were damaged or washed out throughout Barry County. Numerous homes and business suffered flood water damage as well throughout the county. This storm report will contain the damage estimates for the entire county for this event.

4. Jan 12, 2007Ice Storm, Barry$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damaging ice accumulations occurred on exposed objects across northern sections of Barry County. Catastrophic tree and power line damage resulted. No damage to structures was reported by the local emergency management agency.

5. May 8, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Destroyed outbuildings, damage to roofs and other structures, downed trees, and knocked over power poles were all a result of 50 to 85 mph wind gusts that impacted almost all of Barry County. Monett was impacted the greatest as hundreds of structures sustained roof damage. Meanwhile several outbuildings west of Monett along Highway 60 were completely destroyed. There were also destroyed outbuildings along Highway 37 near the community of Purdy. A large roof was torn off of a storage facility that blocked a city street for several hours in Monett. The Gizmo's Event Center grandstand in Wheaton was heavily damaged, which caused heavy rain to destroy the interior of a banquet hall…

6. Aug 1, 2012Drought, Barry$2.1 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 Washburn reported 2.07 of rainfall for the month of August. The COOP station near Monett reported 2.36 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 Barry County indicated that crop losses were as high as 75 percent of the spring planting. Many farmers and ranchers reported having to feed hay as pastures stopped…

7. Jul 7, 2015Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   County Road 1135 at Roaring River State Park saw a flood wave between 4 and 6 feet move through the park in less than 10 minutes. This storm report will contain the overall flood damage estimates across Barry County for this storm event. There were several episodes and heavy rainfall events which led to a compound affect to the flooding damage. Numerous roads, bridges, and low water crossings were heavily damaged. Roaring River State Park suffered major damage to flood waters.

8. Apr 30, 2017Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several homes and business sustained flood damage across Barry County. Numerous roads and bridges were severely damaged or washed away across the county. This report will contain the total dollar estimate for flood damage to infrastructure, businesses, and homes across Barry County.

9. Nov 23, 2001Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down just before 830 pm just south of Highway 76/86 between Exeter and Ridgley. Initial damage was limited to chicken houses and grain bins which suffered sporadic damage. The tornado quickly intensified as it crossed the Highway and moved north across a residence. Extensive damage occurred to the property including two storage buildings swept clean of their foundations, a dump truck flipped almost 30 feet, and the loss of the residence's roof. Nearly a dozen other vehicles suffered collateral damage, along with numerous trees stripped or uprooted. Three individuals were injured as their vehicle was flipped over. The tornado tracked for approximately four miles…

10. Apr 24, 2011Flash Flood$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Route C was closed due to flooding.||The total cost estimate for flooding damages for Barry County for this entire episode has been included. This includes roads, bridges, and structures which were affected.

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

106°F2 times, most recently Aug 3, 2011

All-time low

−17°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

80°F2 times, most recently Aug 3, 2011

Coldest day

−3°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

6.62 inDec 27, 2015

Snowiest day

18.0 in2 times, most recently Mar 14, 1999

Hottest year

2012mean 59.8°F

Coldest year

1979mean 53.6°F

Wettest year

200868.63 in

Driest year

198027.48 in

Snowiest season

36.3 in2002-03

Station Monett 4SW (USC00235704), 1,420 ft elevation, 10.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1972 to October 27, 2026; 93.4% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00235704.
• 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.