Newton County, Missouri

What hazards hit Newton County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 345 since 1957. 52% of its hail reports since 1957 fell in April and May. 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 Newton County had?

NOAA records 54 tornadoes in Newton County from 1954 to 2025, the strongest rated EF4, with 17 deaths and 239 injuries recorded in the county. That is 8th of 114 Missouri counties and 203rd of 3,080 U.S. 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 54 tornadoes whose track touched Newton County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 54, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 190 people, 17 of them in Newton County.

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 Newton County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 14, 2026 flood (1 death).

One person was swept away by flood waters one mile west of Raccoon Road at Shoal Creek in Newton county.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1337882)

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 Newton 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?

52% of its hail reports since 1957 fell in April and May. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Newton County

FEMA's register lists 29 declarations that include Newton County: 23 major disasters, 6 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (15) and flood (6).

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 Newton County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 244 flood or flash flood records for Newton County from 1996 to 2026, on 159 days, with 2 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Newton County ranks 899th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $5.4 million on 215 claims filed in Newton County; the most in one year was 62 in 2017. 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 Newton County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Newton County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $35.5 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 Newton County

1. Jasper County 1,283
2. Barry County 1,234
3. Newton County 1,055
4. Lawrence County 897
5. Cherokee County, KS 874
6. Ottawa County, OK 795
7. McDonald County 779

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
• Hail in MissouriThe state's hail reports, 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 Newton CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Newton County's FEMA declarations (CSV)29 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis