Dent County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Dent County: 2.
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.

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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. Nov 5, 2024Flash Flood$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dent County suffered $15M in damages, with $8M to infrastructure at Montauk State Park, along with two homes destroyed, five having major damage and another 20 with minor damage. An additional $7M occurred to roads and bridges along with some homes. Heaviest damages were along the Current River near Montauk State Park, Spring Creek near Salem, and Crooked Creek and Meramec River near Sligo.

2. Mar 18, 2008Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Seven to nine inches of rain fell over Dent County. Flooding caused major damage to county roads and bridges. All low areas that typically flood during periods of excessive rainfall were flooded.

3. May 8, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Fifty to 80 mph winds swept across mainly southern sections of Dent County. Thousands of trees were damaged, while power poles were also impacted leaving hundreds of residences without power. Several outbuildings and homes also experienced damage. Montauk State Park observed significant tree damage with an extended period of power outage. The community of Salem experienced signficiant tree and power pole damage.

4. Apr 29, 2017Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several homes and business sustained flood damage across Dent 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 Dent County.

5. Jul 1, 2023Drought, Dent$850,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall through the month allowed for improvement across the county though Moderate (D1) Drought conditions continued across the region through the end of July. The US Drought Monitor indicated that the county remained in Moderate (D1) Drought with the far southwestern corner having improved to Abnormally (D0) dry. 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. Crop loss estimates notated in this month encompass…

6. Apr 23, 2011Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Highway 119 was closed due to high water and campers were evacuated from Montauk State Park.||The total cost estimate for flooding damages for Dent County for this entire episode has been included. This includes roads, bridges, and structures which were affected.

7. Dec 31, 2010Tornado$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The NWS survey team determined that an EF-1 tornado occurred. The tornado was estimated to be 100 yards wide along County Road 2050 near Lecoma with estimated winds of 90 to 100 mph. The tornado tracked approximately 1.5 miles before entering into rural Phelps County. Several structures had extensive damage or were destroyed along its path including a mobile home near Lecoma where 2 fatalities occurred.

8. Aug 1, 2022Drought, Dent$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Drought conditions improved across Dent County by the middle of August. The US Drought Monitor indicated that abnormally dry (D0) 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. Much of the losses from row crops will not be felt until the fall when harvest occurs.

9. May 8, 2002Flood, Dent$250,000
   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…

10. Oct 24, 2021Tornado$225,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A National Weather Service storm survey confirmed that an EF-1 tornado with winds estimated at 100 mph began near Gladden, MO. The tornado then caused some uplift to a portion of the roof on a house which resulted in the partial failure of an exterior wall near County Road 5510. The tornado continued traveling towards the northeast, where it uprooted and snapped numerous trees before completely destroying a barn and small shed as it crossed over Highway N southeast of Turtle, MO. Numerous additional trees were uprooted and snapped at their trunks as the tornado crossed County Road 5380 and continued into a heavily wooded area.

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

112°F2 times, most recently Aug 8, 1934

All-time low

−28°FJan 13, 1912

Warmest night

82°FAug 17, 1980

Coldest day

−5°FJan 12, 1918

Wettest day

9.47 inNov 5, 2024

Snowiest day

18.0 inJan 31, 1982

Hottest year

2016mean 61.4°F

Coldest year

2019mean 52.6°F

Wettest year

202464.79 in

Driest year

195319.01 in

Station Salem (USC00237506), 1,205 ft elevation, 0.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1903 to October 19, 2026; 94.9% 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 USC00237506.
• 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.