Hail, Phelps
- When
- May 20, 4:00 PM CST
- Where
- Phelps County
- Measured
- 2 in hail
- Coordinates
- 38.000, -91.780
Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, May 20, 1957
4 hail, 3 tornado, 3 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 37
- Injuries
- 176
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 10
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
Event by event
4 hail, 3 tornado, 3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Tornado, De Kalb
- When
- May 20, 5:00 PM CST
- Where
- De Kalb County
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 9.8 mi
- Path width
- 200 yd
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 39.850, -94.350
Tornado, Jackson
- When
- May 20, 7:37 PM CST
- Where
- Jackson County
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 12.8 mi
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 39.200, -94.200
Tornado, Jackson
- When
- May 20, 7:37 PM CST
- Where
- Jackson County
- Rating
- F5
- Path length
- 12.6 mi
- Path width
- 440 yd
- Deaths
- 37 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 176 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Coordinates
- 38.880, -94.600
Hail, Greene
- When
- May 20, 9:00 PM CST
- Where
- Greene County
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Coordinates
- 37.280, -93.580
Hail, Newton
- When
- May 20, 9:55 PM CST
- Where
- Newton County
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 36.780, -94.400
Thunderstorm Wind, Newton
- When
- May 20, 9:55 PM CST
- Where
- Newton County
- Coordinates
- 36.880, -94.180
Thunderstorm Wind, Newton
- When
- May 20, 9:55 PM CST
- Where
- Newton County
- Coordinates
- 36.880, -94.180
Thunderstorm Wind, Newton
- When
- May 20, 9:55 PM CST
- Where
- Newton County
- Coordinates
- 36.780, -94.400
Hail, Greene
- When
- May 20, 11:17 PM CST
- Where
- Greene County
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 37.200, -93.400
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in Missouri in 1957Every state in 1957This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Missouri, 1957
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10060410, 10060411, 10060412, 10060413, 10060414, 10060415, 10060416, 10060417, 10060418, 10060419.