Phelps County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by MO DNR (2).

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. Jan 12, 2007Ice Storm, Phelps$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant tree and power line damage occurred from ice accumulations of one and a half inches.

2. Jun 1, 1999Tornado$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado with an intermittent damage path, damaged 200 homes, businesses, and other buildings in the southern portion of St. James. Of these, 33 homes were destroyed along with the St. James Golf Course clubhouse and two Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) buildings. Initially, the tornado touched down just west of the intersection of Hwy BB and County Road (CR) 3370 and produced F1 damage, damaging roofs and destroying a barn. The path width was about 200 yards.The tornado then moved east, south of the downtown St. James area and intensified. F2-F3 damage occurred with a 200-300 yard damage path. Several homes and farm buildings were severely damaged or destroyed. F3…

3. Dec 26, 2015Flash Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Highway J was closed due to high water at the Spring Creek Arm of the Big Piney River. Numerous roads and bridges were damaged. Approximately 8 homes were destroyed and 22 homed suffered moderate damaged from flood water. This storm report will contain the damage estimates for the entire county for this event.

4. Mar 14, 2025Tornado$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-2 tornado moved through Phelps County, including the city of Rolla. The tornado started in the Mark Twain National Forest approximately 7 miles southeast of Newburg, MO with damage diminishing to the north of Dillion, MO. The tornado caused an intermittent path of damaged and uprooted trees before causing damage to homes and businesses along Highway 63 south of Rolla then continued to cause damage across southeast sections of Rolla that included significant damage to some homes, roof damage to multiple schools and other businesses. One person was injured across this portion of the path. The damage became more intermittent across eastern sections of Rolla, then became even…

5. Nov 5, 2024Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Of the $1 million in damages to roads and bridges across the county, the worst damages were located along the Big Piney near Buelah, followed by the Newburg and Duke areas. Additionally, four homes suffered major damages.

6. Sep 22, 2006Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that a tornado tracked across a section of northeast Phelps County, and through the community of St. James. Several structures were heavily damaged including a Walmart distribution center, the Manchester Packing Plant, and the St. James Middle School. The tornado dissipated three miles east of St. James, just prior to crossing into Crawford County. No injuries occurred from the tornado.

7. Dec 31, 2010Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS survey team determined that an EF-3 tornado occurred north of Rolla. The heaviest damage occurred between state Highway E and County Road 8040. Two single wide mobile homes were completely destroyed with debris thrown upstream while the frames were detached. Two fatalities occurred in one of these homes. A two story home had all but its interior walls destroyed. Several cars were thrown with one vehicle thrown over the destroyed home. Minor to moderate roof and tree damage occurred at various locations near the starting point to Highway 63 north of Rolla. There was primarily tree damage between Highway 63 and Highway 68.

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

   At least 50 homes and business sustained flood damage across the 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 McDonald County.

9. Aug 7, 2013Flash Flood$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This storm report will include the total estimated damage for the flooding event. The Little Piney Creek rose two feet in one hour and flooded portions of the town of Newburg. Up to two hundred residents in Newburg had to be evacuated. Several businesses and homes were flooded. There were several low water crossings and roadways that had damage due to flood waters.

10. Apr 19, 2002Flash Flood$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A complex of strong to severe thunderstorms developed over the southwestern portions of the Lake of the Ozarks region during the afternoon and early evening of April 19th and moved slowly eastward over Camden, Maries, Miller, Phelps and Pulaski counties. The airmass was very moist which allowed for the storms to produce torrential rainfall in a short period of time. In addition, the storms propagated over the same areas producing rainfall rates of two to four inches per hour. Radar estimated between six to eight inches of rain fell in these areas during the early evening hours. A broad area of two to four inches fell around the six to eight inch band, which allowed for significant…

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 15, 1954

All-time low

−24°FJan 13, 1912

Warmest night

85°FJun 20, 1913

Coldest day

−5°FDec 25, 1983

Wettest day

7.90 inJul 26, 1998

Snowiest day

15.0 inNov 6, 1951

Hottest year

1921mean 60.2°F

Coldest year

1951mean 52.6°F

Wettest year

198569.42 in

Driest year

195324.56 in

Snowiest season

55.9 in1911-12

Station Rolla Missouri S&t (USC00237263), 1,173 ft elevation, 1.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1897 to October 27, 2026; 99.8% 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 USC00237263.
• 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.