Laclede County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Laclede County: 0.
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.

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$76.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A hail swath from a mile to 3 miles wide began near Conway and continued to the north-northeast across Laclede County. Hail from quarters to 3 inches in size fell along a path from Conway to Phillipsburg to Eldridge as a left moving supercell moved 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 Camden County.

2. Jan 12, 2007Ice Storm, Laclede$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Catastrophic tree and power line damage resulted across all of Laclede County from the storm.

3. Apr 26, 2026Hail$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail from golf ball to hen egg in size was reported across portions of Lebanon including the Lebanon Airport where pictures of golf ball hail were provided. Damage occurred to homes, vehicles, equipment, outbuildings and general aviation aircraft at the airport.

4. Jan 7, 2008Tornado$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is an extension of the Webster County tornado. A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that an EF-3 tornado tracked across Laclede County. Numerous homes and outbuildings south of Lebanon were destroyed while 12 were injured.

5. Aug 20, 2007Flash Flood$5.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical Storm Erin remnants impacted areas of Laclede County. Flash flooding occurred county wide causing road closures to a section of Highway 32 near Pinetree Road, West Elm Road between Drury Road and Springfield Road, a section of Route BB northwest of Sleeper and north of Route F, the intersection of Highway 32 and Highway K, the intersection of Route BB and Highway F, the intersection of Route T and Highway FF, the outer road of interstate 44 at Route N, and a section of a secondary road near Sleeper. A United State Postal employee delivering rural mail drove into a washed out bridge and was swept away by flood water.

6. Dec 26, 2015Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Route B was closed due to flooding at North Cobb Creek. Nearly all low water crossings across the county were flooded. There were numerous county roads that had flood damage. There was extensive damage to the campgrounds at Bennett Spring State Park including the fish hatchery and cabins. This storm report will contain the damage estimates for the entire county for this event.

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

   Widespread wind damage occurred across central and southern Laclede County. Trees, outbuildings, and power poles were the primary items that were damaged. In Conway, several homes experienced minor roof damage. Rural areas south of Lebanon experienced the most intense wind speeds. In Lebanon, a few trees were knocked over, however, structural damage was minimal.

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

   Four to nine inches of rain fell over Laclede County. The southeast section of the county experienced the greatest rainfall totals as widespread flooding occurred over county roads.

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

   Several homes and roads sustained flood damage across Laclede County. The Gasconade River near Hazelgreen hit a new record river level. Interstate 44 near mile marker 143 was closed down due to flooding. The flooding severely damaged I-44. Bennett Spring State Park suffered some flood damage. This report will contain the total dollar estimate for flood damage to infrastructure, businesses, and homes across Laclede County.

10. Feb 29, 2012Tornado$750,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An EF-1 tornado tracked from 2 miles northwest of Philipsburg to 1 mile southeast of Lebanon. Several frame homes had roof damaged, one mobile home was destroyed, damage occurred to the roof of the Tracker Marine Boat Plant, the Lowe's Garden Center was severely damaged and numerous trees were uprooted. Several other businesses were damaged.

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

113°FJul 14, 1954

All-time low

−28°FFeb 12, 1899

Warmest night

83°FAug 3, 1913

Coldest day

−2°FFeb 12, 1899

Wettest day

6.60 inJan 2, 1897

Snowiest day

16.0 in2 times, most recently Feb 20, 1912

Hottest year

2012mean 59.5°F

Coldest year

1951mean 52.0°F

Wettest year

200884.23 in

Driest year

201420.49 in

Snowiest season

48.0 in1911-12

Station Lebanon 2W (USC00234825), 1,246 ft elevation, 2.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to September 30, 2025; 87.6% 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 USC00234825.
• 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.