Tornadoes · United States · Missouri

2020 tornadoes in Missouri

19 tornadoes touched down in Missouri in 2020, 46 percent below the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2019 2021 The whole country in 2020

The rating scale

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

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

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

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. EF5over 200 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 2020

January 10 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 102:27 PM CSTEF1Polk8.750$500,000
January 103:20 PM CSTEF1Hickory1.6100$45,000
January 105:42 PM CSTEF0Greene7.075$400,000

January 11 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 1112:52 AM CSTEF1Bollinger0.245$30,000
January 111:46 AM CSTEF2Cape Girardeau9.1300$750,000

March 2 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 210:15 PM CSTEF0New Madrid3.150

March 12 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 125:17 PM CDTEF0Carter0.475$5,000
March 125:20 PM CDTEF0Butler0.6100$5,000

April 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 242:08 PM CDTEF0Saline0.050

May 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 31:56 PM CDTEF1New Madrid5.8150$500,000

May 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 44:23 PM CDTEF0Carter4.050$75,000

May 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 252:30 PM CDTEF0Buchanan0.020

June 4 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 42:20 AM CDTEF0Jackson5.740
June 42:56 AM CDTEF0Cass1.840

June 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 98:03 PM CDTEF0Holt0.025

June 27 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 275:42 PM CDTEF0Crawford0.8100
June 279:14 PM CDTEF1Saint Francois0.7125

July 29 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 291:45 PM CDTEF0Clay0.320

September 1 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 14:14 PM CDTEF0Pemiscot2.150

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.