Flash Flood in Missouri
Every flash flood event the National Weather Service has filed in Missouri, year by year, with the most significant episodes. Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
The most significant on the map
The most significant flash flood episodes in Missouri.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The record
- Events
- 6,244
- Deaths
- 112
- Injuries
- 46
- Damage
- $991 million
Every year
The most significant
Ranked by deaths, injuries, damage and size together.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Missouri, December 26 to 28, 2015A slow moving and strong weather system caused several rounds of very heavy and record breaking rainfall to occur across the Missouri Ozarks which led to historic and deadly flooding.
- Flash Flooding in Missouri, October 4 to 5, 1998Thunderstorms 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.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, January 7 to 8, 2008An unusual mid winter tornado outbreak occurred over southwest and central Missouri. 31 tornadoes struck the region within a 15 hour time frame on 7 January into early morning 8 January. Two tornadoes intensified to EF-3 status while five tornadoes caused EF-2 damage.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, May 29 to 30, 2004Tornado crossed into Buchanan county 5 northwest of Camden Point. Tornado destroyed a barn, and threw an axle from a heavy truck nearly 300 yards.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, May 20 to 23, 2019Multiple rounds of storms producing heavy rainfall, severe winds, hail and tornadoes moved across the Missouri Ozarks from May 20th and into the early morning hours of May 24th as upper level disturbances interacted with a slow moving but powerful storm system over the central…
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, June 13 to 14, 2026Severe thunderstorms with tornadoes and damaging winds occurred late in the evening of June 13, 2026. Repeated rounds of heavy rainfall caused flash flooding and river flooding. Between 3 and 6 inches of rainfall fell with this system. Some fatalities occurred from the flooding.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, November 4 to 8, 2024Multiple rounds of heavy rainfall and thunderstorms brought severe weather and flooding to southwest Missouri from November 4-5, 2024.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Missouri, August 5 to 10, 2013A stalled frontal boundary led to multiple rounds of thunderstorms which trained over the same areas and produced intense rainfall rates and rainfall totals.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, May 26 to 28, 2017Multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms brought damaging straight-line winds, large hail, tornadoes, and flooding to the Missouri Ozarks from May 27th into the early morning hours of May 28th. Over 130 reports of severe weather and flooding were received from the Missouri Ozarks.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, May 26 to 28, 2024The second major severe weather outbreak for the month occurred on the 26th for the Quad State region. On the synoptic scale, a shortwave trough centered in the middle of the country with a 60 kt mid-level jet moved across northern Arkansas.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, May 8, 2009An intense squall line impacted extreme southeast Kansas and the Missouri Ozarks with mainly damaging winds. However, 19 tornadoes along with large hail was also observed. Due to the straight line nature of the winds, damage was widespread and intense.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Missouri, September 12 to 14, 2008A cold front moved through the region and interacted with the remnants of Hurricane Ike. Widespread heavy rain was reported across Missouri and Illinois causing major flooding across the region. Many small creeks in the St.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Missouri, March 23 to 25, 2023The most impactful storm system to affect the region during the month of March began during the late afternoon and early evening of the 23rd as strong to severe thunderstorms trained along and north of a front that had stalled over northwest Arkansas and south central Missouri.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, April 22 to 26, 2011A strong cold front moved through region. With plenty of moisture, instability and decent low level shear, severe storms developed along the Interstate 70 corridor in Missouri and Illinois. Numerous reports of large hail and 5 tornadoes occurred with this event.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Missouri, April 28 to 30, 2017Multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms and extremely heavy rainfall over several days led to historic and devastating flash floods, record breaking river levels, large hail, wind damage, and at least one tornado across the Missouri Ozarks region.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Missouri, April 22 to 26, 2011Multiple rounds of thunderstorms produced very heavy rainfall across the Ozarks over the course of a week. A persistent trough over the central plains brought multiple upper level storm systems over the region which produced intense thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, November 4 to 5, 2024Overnight on Sunday, November 3rd, a shield of rain and thunderstorms moved into the bi-state area. By Monday morning, persistent rainfall resulted in fatal flash flooding in southeast Missouri, with one fatality occurring in Iron County.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, April 30, 2019Very moist and unstable conditions developed over the Missouri Ozarks ahead of an intense low pressure system over the southern Plains.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Missouri, March 17 to 22, 2008Excessive rainfall developed over southern Missouri during the evening of 17 March. A line of training convection assumed a position roughly along a line from Anderson to Ozark to Licking.
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Missouri, April 4 to 5, 2025Multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms occurred across southern Missouri between April 4th and April 6th. The highest rainfall amounts occurred southeast of Springfield where pockets of 8-10 inches with localized amounts to 12 inches occurred.
- Flash Flood and Flood in Missouri, November 30, 2019A round of significant flooding occurred on the last day of November as a warm front lifted north, bringing warm moist air and providing a focus for showers and thunderstorms. Several rounds of moderate to heavy rain moved across the area.
- Flash Flooding in Missouri, July 26, 2022During the early morning of Tuesday, July 26th, 2022, a complex of training thunderstorms set up roughly along the I-70 corridor in Missouri and I-64 corridor in Illinois. Several rounds of thunderstorms with rainfall rates exceeding 2in/hr affected this area, including the St.
- Flash Flood in Missouri, May 7, 2000A thunderstorm complex dropped up to 14 inches of rain on Franklin County from about Midnight to 6 am causing the worst flash flooding in county history. The rain fell at a rate of 3 inches an hour from about 2 to 3 am.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, May 31, 2013Storms developed along an outflow boundary that was laid out along the I-70 corridor. The storms produced wind damage, large hail as well as 9 tornadoes. Two of the tornadoes were rated EF3 as they moved through the St. Louis metro area.
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, May 26, 2024A second round of severe thunderstorms occurred during the afternoon and evening on May 26, 2024. Supercell thunderstorms initialized over central Missouri and spread southward as rapid destabilization occurred along and east of Highway 65.
More
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.