Tornadoes · United States · Missouri

1971 tornadoes in Missouri

29 tornadoes touched down in Missouri in 1971, 17 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 3 people and injured 138.

1970 1972 The whole country in 1971

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.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 1971

February 4 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 4	8:10 AM CST	F1	Newton	0.2	30			$500 to $5,000
February 4	8:45 AM CST	F1	Jasper	0.2	17			$5,000 to $50,000

March 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 14	11:30 PM CST	F2	Cape Girardeau	6.6	23			$50,000 to $500,000

March 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 15	12:30 AM CST	F1	Mississippi to IL	2.4	200			$50,000 to $500,000

April 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 27	4:00 PM CDT	F1	Perry	1.8	20			$5,000 to $50,000

May 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 1	8:00 PM CDT	F1	Wright	0.3	50			$50 to $500

May 5 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 5	6:45 PM CDT	F3	Chariton	3.8	50		6	$500,000 to $5 million
May 5	6:55 PM CDT	F3	Jasper	13.1	70	1	60	$500,000 to $5 million
May 5	7:05 PM CDT	F3	Linn	0.1	50		12	$500,000 to $5 million
May 5	7:30 PM CDT	F1	Dade	11.0	50			$5,000 to $50,000

May 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 24	1:40 AM CDT	F2	Washington	25.4	50			$50,000 to $500,000

May 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 31	8:35 PM CDT	F1	Jackson	0.1	17

June 2 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 2	10:00 AM CDT	F1	Johnson	0.1	17			$500 to $5,000
June 2	12:05 PM CDT	F0	Jasper	0.5	17		1	$50 to $500

June 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 8	1:50 AM CDT	F1	Lawrence	0.8	120			$5,000 to $50,000

June 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 11	12:05 PM CDT	F0	Audrain	0.2	17			$500 to $5,000

June 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 14	7:50 PM CDT	F1	Miller	2.0	50			$500 to $5,000

June 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 22	7:00 PM CDT	F1	Livingston	0.5	50			$5,000 to $50,000

July 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 10	11:43 AM CDT	F1	Warren	0.3	77			$5,000 to $50,000

July 15 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 15	3:00 AM CDT	F2	Mississippi	1.0	33		6	$5,000 to $50,000
July 15	3:20 AM CDT	F2	Mississippi	0.2	17			$5,000 to $50,000

July 23 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 23	7:12 PM CDT	F0	Ray	0.1	10

August 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 3	2:00 PM CDT	F0	Ray	0.1	10

November 1 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 1	9:30 AM CST	F1	Callaway	0.3	30			$500 to $5,000
November 1	5:30 PM CST	F1	Clinton	1.0	27			$5,000 to $50,000

December 14 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 14	10:00 PM CST	F1	McDonald	24.2	100		3	$50,000 to $500,000
December 14	11:10 PM CST	F2	Greene	48.3	200	1	22	$500,000 to $5 million

December 15 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 15	2:20 AM CST	F1	Washington	0.8	100		2	$5,000 to $50,000
December 15	2:30 AM CST	F2	Stoddard	27.0	100	1	26	$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.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 18	2:45 PM CDT	F2	Leavenworth, KS to MO	55.4	100		6	$5,000 to $50,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Missouri since 1950 Warnings in force in Missouri The 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.