Ray County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Mar 12, 2006Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   F1 tornado crossed into Ray county from Jackson county at 0915 CST...2 miles west of Orrick. The tornado traveled east and lifted 2 miles southeast of Richmond. A gas station was destroyed in Orrick and the roof to the school was blown off..

2. Jan 30, 2002Ice Storm, Ray$300,000
   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. Sep 11, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds tore off a 60-by-100 foot section of the roof at Richmond High School.

4. Oct 14, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two homes were destroyed. Utility company officials reported numerous downed power poles.

5. Oct 4, 1998Flash Flood$100,000
   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…

6. May 18, 2026Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS Damage Survey team confirmed a tornado occurred Monday evening, 5/18/2026, beginning at 9:47 PM CDT in southwestern Ray County Missouri. This tornado caused primarily tree damage along its path, but did impact two properties, one north of Fishing River, shortly after the tornado developed. EF1 Damage to two power poles, one out building was noted, along with the roll over of an empty livestock trailer. The tornado resulted in widespread EF1 tree damage near Reynolds Road and W 108th Street. The tornado continued east-northeast, crossing highway 10 south of Elkhorn before causing tree damage north of Swanwick before crossing highway 13. The tornado ended near the intersection…

7. Jun 12, 2003Tornado$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado touched down 4 miles north of Hardin and moved one mile northeast before lifting. The tornado damaged power lines, sheds, roofs and one business.

8. Oct 14, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A house suffered roof damage and a barn was destroyed.

9. Nov 27, 2005Tornado$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado crossed into Ray county from Clay county in Lawson at 1759. The tornado moved north-northeast and dissipated 2 miles north of Lawson. Damage was noted to homes along 184th street to the east of US-69. Barn and tree damage was also noted along Raum Road just north of town.

10. Apr 8, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Severe weather broke out in northwest and west-central Missouri around midday on April 8. Storms tracked rapidly northeastward and moved into central and north-central Missouri by early evening. The outbreak included at least five tornadoes, one of which moved along a 54-mile path across three counties. Reports of thunderstorm wind damage were also widespread throughout the 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

113°FAug 14, 1936

All-time low

−19°FDec 22, 1989

Warmest night

89°FJul 10, 1980

Coldest day

−4°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

7.45 inAug 15, 1969

Snowiest day

11.8 inJan 18, 1962

Hottest year

2012mean 61.2°F

Coldest year

1951mean 53.5°F

Wettest year

196160.25 in

Driest year

198819.17 in

Station Kansas City Dwtn Airport (USW00013988), 742 ft elevation, 31.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1934 to October 26, 2026; 98.9% 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 USW00013988.
• 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.