Polk County, Missouri

What hazards hit Polk County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 306 since 1965. 51% of its hail reports since 1965 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 Polk County had?

NOAA records 38 tornadoes in Polk County from 1955 to 2024, the strongest rated F2, with 0 deaths and 2 injuries recorded in the county. That is 26th 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 38 tornadoes whose track touched Polk County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 38, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 7 people, 0 of them in Polk 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 Polk County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 25, 2026 thunderstorm wind ($10,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

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

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 Polk 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).

Drought in the 2020-26: 22 records against 6 in the decade before, 22 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Polk County days with a record above.

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

What time of year?

51% of its hail reports since 1965 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 Polk County

FEMA's register lists 25 declarations that include Polk County: 18 major disasters, 7 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (15) and flood (3).

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 Polk County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 222 flood or flash flood records for Polk County from 1996 to 2026, on 121 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Polk County ranks 2358th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $133,000 on 10 claims filed in Polk County; the most in one year was 3 in 2009. 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 Polk County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Polk County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $15.5 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 Polk County

1. Greene County 2,307
2. Polk County 987
3. Dallas County 624
4. Dade County 549
5. St. Clair County 531
6. Cedar County 510
7. Hickory County 477

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 Polk CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Polk County's FEMA declarations (CSV)25 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis