St. Charles County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Apr 10, 2001Hail$100 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Heavy Precipitation Supercell that began in west central Missouri and spawned several tornadoes along its path entered the St. Louis area and produced widespread damaging hail. In St. Charles County numerous reports of hail from 1 inch to 2 inches in diameter were received. As of this writing, insurance companies were still assessing the damage to automobiles and homes, but estimates were putting the damage to at least $200 million.

2. May 31, 2013Tornado$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down about four miles southwest of Weldon Spring in St. Charles County, Missouri. It downed trees, blew over empty tractor trailers, and caused minor damage to construction equipment. It moved east-northeast into Weldon Spring Heights and the Missouri Research Park (on the south side of Weldon Spring) causing roof, window, and solar panel damage to a few structures as well as downing more trees before crossing Interstate 64. The tornado passed within one half of a mile of the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office which is located in the Missouri Research Park. The tornado continued moving east-northeast through densely populated residential areas of…

3. Apr 10, 2001Hail$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Heavy Precipitation Supercell that began in west central Missouri and spawned several tornadoes along its path entered the St. Louis area and produced widespread damaging hail. In St. Charles County numerous reports of hail from 1 inch to 2 inches in diameter were received. As of this writing, insurance companies were still assessing the damage to automobiles and homes, but estimates were putting the damage to at least $200 million.

4. Apr 10, 2001Hail$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Heavy Precipitation Supercell that began in west central Missouri and spawned several tornadoes along its path entered the St. Louis area and produced widespread damaging hail. In St. Charles County numerous reports of hail from 1 inch to 2 inches in diameter were received. As of this writing, insurance companies were still assessing the damage to automobiles and homes, but estimates were putting the damage to at least $200 million.

5. Mar 14, 2024Hail$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wide swath of very large hail fell along the I-70 corridor in St. Charles County. The largest hail stones were around three inches in diameter. The cities that the large hail affected were Wentzville, Saint Paul, O'Fallon, Lake St. Louis, Flint Hill, Saint Peters, Cottleville, and Saint Charles. Numerous vehicles sustained hail damage including thousands of individual cars and at 12 car dealerships. One dealership alone had 450 cars damaged from the large hail. Also, hundreds of homes and businesses sustained roof and siding damage. One school sustained damage to skylights.

6. Nov 30, 2006Winter Storm, St. Charles$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major winter storm hit Central, Northeast, East Central and parts of Southeast Missouri from November 30 through Dcember 1. Over a foot of snow fell across parts of Central Missouri while a major ice storm hit parts of East Central and Southeast Missouri, including the St. Louis area. Ice accumulations of 1 inch or more downed trees and power lines resulting in at least 300,000 electric customers losing service for up to a week. Downed limbs and trees damaged homes and automobiles across the area as well. Many rural schools were closed for several days due to slick roads and power outages. The National Guard was called out to several counties to assist with debris removal and…

7. Jul 26, 2022Flash Flood$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to 13 inches of rain fell in a 6 to 10 hour period causing widespread flash flooding. The axis of heaviest rain extended from just north of Wentzville east southeastward through northern portions of O'Fallon through St. Peters and into St. Charles. Numerous roads were flooded throughout St. Charles County. Interstate 70 was flooded with up to five feet of water around the intersection with Mid Rivers Mall Drive. Fire and rescue searched and cleared several dozen vehicles in this area and rescued 8 people from the rising waters. Also, in the area of Harry S. Truman Blvd and Premier Parkway, several drivers were rescued from their flooded vehicles. In the area of Mexico Road and…

8. Apr 10, 2001Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The 5th tornado spawned by the Heavy Precipitation Supercell that moved across the NWS St. Louis County Warning Area formed in Lake St. Louis. Most of the damage was at the Mystic Village apartment complex where the tornado was briefly F1 in intensity. Altogether, 2 buildings were considered destroyed, 14 homes/apartment/businesses had major damage, and 8 other homes/apartments/.businesses had minor damage.

9. May 11, 2016Hail$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very large hail up to 4 inches in diameter fell across portions of St. Charles County. The hardest hit areas stretched from near Dardenne Prairie, O'Fallon and Weldon Spring east to Cottleville, St. Peters and St. Charles. Damage from this hail storm will be many millions of dollars as thousands of homes, vehicles and businesses were impacted and suffered damage. One hundred twenty cars at a car dealership near the intersection of I-64/Highway 94, sustained busted windows and lots of dents from large hail, some that were as big as baseballs. Reports of windows blown out, roofing and siding damage were common.

10. Dec 10, 2021Tornado$3.4 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    The tornado developed about a third of a mile northeast of the intersection of Highway 94 and Osage Ridge Road in southwestern St. Charles County around 7:32 PM CDT. As it moved to the northeast, two houses sustained minor damage and one outbuilding was destroyed on Highway T, just north of intersection with Hemsath Road. The tornado continued northeast and strengthened as it approached Highway F, northwest of Defiance. Multiple homesteads and farms suffered varying degrees of property damage along Highway F to Highway 94. Two homes were completely destroyed. The first home was 110 years old and did not appear to have any anchoring to the concrete foundation. The second home just…

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

115°FJul 14, 1954

All-time low

−18°FJan 20, 1985

Warmest night

86°FJul 25, 2012

Coldest day

−5°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

8.64 inJul 26, 2022

Snowiest day

12.4 inMar 24, 2013

Hottest year

2012mean 61.2°F

Coldest year

1978mean 53.4°F

Wettest year

201561.24 in

Driest year

195320.59 in

Snowiest season

66.0 in1977-78

Station St. Louis Lambert International Airport (USW00013994), 531 ft elevation, 16.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1938 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 USW00013994.
• 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.