Lafayette County, Missouri

What hazards hit Lafayette County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 159 since 1960. 49% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1960 fell in May and June. The rank column places the county among Missouri's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Lafayette County had?

NOAA records 29 tornadoes in Lafayette County from 1958 to 2024, the strongest rated F3, with 1 death and 5 injuries recorded in the county. That is 41st of 114 Missouri counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 30 tornadoes whose track touched Lafayette County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 29: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 1 person.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Missouri.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Lafayette County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the February 5, 2019 winter weather (2 deaths, 2 injuries and $115,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

Two fatalities occurred the evening of 2/5/19 on I-70, in Lafayette County when a vehicle skidded off the road due to ice. A semi trailing the vehicular accident then impacted the vehicle, killing two of the four occupants. The MHP police report is linked here: https://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/HP68/AccidentDetailsAction?ACC_RPT_NUM=190068843 . Aside from those two accidents, there have been numerous injury accidents, mostly resulting in minor injuries, with a handful of moderate to serious injuries. Highway 7 just north of Pleasant Hill was closed for several hours on Tuesday evening because a MODoT salt truck among other vehicles impacted the guard rail just north of town. NWS employee tried to get home at 7:30 pm CST, and had to return to work due to impassible roads. The incoming midnight shift was able to report to work, but were delayed due to the icy roads.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 795729)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Lafayette County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

49% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1960 fell in May and June. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Lafayette County

FEMA's register lists 25 declarations that include Lafayette County: 18 major disasters, 7 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (10) and flood (7).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Lafayette County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 108 flood or flash flood records for Lafayette County from 1996 to 2020, on 84 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Lafayette County ranks 2128th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $276,000 on 18 claims filed in Lafayette County; the most in one year was 4 in 1993. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Lafayette County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Lafayette County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $20.2 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Lafayette County

1. Jackson County 1,806
2. Johnson County 820
3. Pettis County 595
4. Lafayette County 563
5. Saline County 528
6. Ray County 416
7. Carroll County 366

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in MissouriEvery Missouri tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in MissouriThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Missouri recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Lafayette CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Lafayette County's FEMA declarations (CSV)25 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis