Platte County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. May 4, 2003Tornado$32.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado crossed from Wyandotte county into Platte county and continued to Clay county. There were 14 buildings destroyed, 42 with major damage. No injuries or fatalaties reported.

2. Jan 30, 2002Ice Storm, Platte$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A long-lived major ice and snow storm blasted much of northwest, northern and central Missouri from late Tuesday, January 29th, until Thursday, January 31st. Ice accumulations of over an inch were observed from the Kansas City metropolitan area, east and north through Moberly Missouri. At one point 409,504 total customers were without electrical power in the CWA, with some residents without power up to two weeks. For the Kansas City area, the ice storm was ranked as the worst ever. Further north across northern Missouri, heavy snow fell generally along and north of a line, from St. Joseph to Trenton to Kirksville. Snow accumulations ranged from 8 to 14 inches.

3. Oct 4, 1998Flash Flood$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms containing very heavy rainfall over West Central Missouri on October 4th resulted in several episodes of major flash flooding. The most deadly and costly flooding occurred in Jackson County where nine people lost their lives on the evening of October 4th. The Kansas City metropolitan area experienced the worst of the flooding which was similar in historical context as the devastating flash flood in September 1977. Several episodes of heavy rain producing thunderstorms commenced on the morning of October 4th and continued into early afternoon. In Lee's Summit, up to 10 people had to be rescued from a flooded apartment complex and the depth of the water on 3rd St…

4. May 4, 2003Tornado$1.9 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado in Leavenworth county crossed the Missouri River into Platte county around Missouri Route 92, near its intersection with North Farley Road. F1 damage was noted and extended one and a half miles to the east, with a width around 50 yards. Two barns had major damage and there were 16 homes with minor damage. There was also tree and fence damage noted.

5. Mar 12, 2006Hail$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roofs and cars damaged due to the large hail.

6. May 7, 2007Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Platte River at Platte City crested at 32.50 feet, or 12.50 feet above flood stage. This was its third highest crest on record and was on May 10, 2007. Several homes suffered loss and there was widespread agricultural losses in the adjacent bottom lands.

7. Oct 22, 1996Heavy Snow, Platte$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy wet snow from a record breaking early season snowfall downed numerous trees still full of foliage and powerlines. An estimated 25,000 Missouri Power and Light customers lost power during the storm and total property damage was estimated at a quarter million dollars.Officially 6.5 inches of snow fell at Kansas City International Airport and 5 inches was reported at Parkville.

8. Mar 12, 2006Hail$200,000
9. Apr 20, 2021Winter Weather, Platte$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An accident along I-635 just north of the Missouri River was fatal for one motorist. Icy roads have not been determined officially as the cause, but with 2 to 4 inches of snow on the roads causing slick conditions that morning it's strongly plausible as a contributor to the accident. A vehicle was travelling south along I-635 and crashed head on into a semi. This took place south of Horizons Parkway along I-635, but north of the Missouri River.

10. Nov 27, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several businesses and residences suffered roof damage and partial collapses. There were also many tree branches reported down.

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

109°FAug 29, 1984

All-time low

−23°F2 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Warmest night

83°F2 times, most recently Jul 10, 1980

Coldest day

−8°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

8.82 inSep 12, 1977

Snowiest day

11.0 inJan 5, 2025

Hottest year

2012mean 58.8°F

Coldest year

1979mean 51.5°F

Wettest year

197355.26 in

Driest year

201222.28 in

Snowiest season

44.3 in2009-10

Station Kansas City International Airport (USW00003947), 1,008 ft elevation, 3.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1972 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00003947.
• 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.