Tornadoes · United States · Missouri

1960 tornadoes in Missouri

33 tornadoes touched down in Missouri in 1960, about the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1959 1961 The whole country in 1960

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Missouri in 1960

January 12 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 122:20 PM GMT-6F1Nodaway0.117$5,000 to $50,000

February 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 98:10 PM GMT-6F2Saint Francois9.3100$5,000 to $50,000

March 29 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 294:30 PM GMT-6F1Grundy0.3100$5,000 to $50,000
March 299:15 PM GMT-6F1Stoddard2.517$500 to $5,000
March 299:30 PM GMT-6F1Scott0.2171$5,000 to $50,000

April 16 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 163:00 PM GMT-6F3Harrison27.03004$5,000 to $50,000
April 164:30 PM GMT-6F2Mercer29.6100$5,000 to $50,000

May 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 55:50 PM GMT-5F0Dallas0.213$500 to $5,000

May 6 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 61:30 AM GMT-5F1Camden0.213$500 to $5,000
May 61:45 AM GMT-5F2Douglas5.750$50,000 to $500,000

May 16 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 162:30 AM GMT-5F1Harrison0.210$500 to $5,000
May 167:00 AM GMT-5F2Adair8.717$5,000 to $50,000

May 18 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 187:00 AM GMT-5F1Barry0.210$500 to $5,000
May 183:45 PM GMT-5F0Taney0.210$50 to $500

May 19 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 198:10 PM GMT-5F1Lawrence0.217$500 to $5,000
May 1910:00 PM GMT-5F1Barton1.517$5,000 to $50,000
May 1911:15 PM GMT-5F1Johnson0.217$500 to $5,000
May 1912:20 AM GMT-5F1Linn1.540$500 to $5,000

June 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 48:15 PM GMT-5F1Mercer0.217$5,000 to $50,000

June 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 106:20 PM GMT-5F1Saline0.217$500 to $5,000

June 11 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 114:30 PM GMT-5F1Audrain4.133$5,000 to $50,000
June 115:15 PM GMT-5F1Ray0.217$500 to $5,000

June 29 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 297:20 PM GMT-5F1Lafayette0.550$50,000 to $500,000
June 298:00 PM GMT-5F2Buchanan25.1100$5,000 to $50,000
June 299:00 PM GMT-5F1Andrew1.117$5,000 to $50,000

June 30 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 309:00 AM GMT-5F0Saint Charles0.210$50 to $500
June 309:00 PM GMT-5F1Callaway0.217$5,000 to $50,000

November 15 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 152:00 PM GMT-6F2Maries1.3100$5,000 to $50,000
November 153:30 PM GMT-6F2Laclede18.22003$5,000 to $50,000
November 153:30 PM GMT-6F1Phelps1.9171$5,000 to $50,000
November 153:45 PM GMT-6F2Maries2.017$5,000 to $50,000
November 157:00 PM GMT-6F1Pulaski0.210$500 to $5,000

December 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 48:30 PM GMT-6F2Ray11.017$5,000 to $50,000

Crossed into Missouri

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Missouri. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 156:00 PM GMT-6F3Miami, KS to MO8.45002

Nearby

Every tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in MissouriThe live radar over Missouri

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.