Ray County, Missouri

What hazards hit Ray County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 116 since 1955. 53% of its hail reports since 1955 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 Ray County had?

NOAA records 34 tornadoes in Ray County from 1951 to 2026, the strongest rated F4, with 2 deaths and 21 injuries recorded in the county. That is 22nd 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 34 tornadoes whose track touched Ray County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 34, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 2 people.

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 Ray County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the May 18, 2026 tornado ($50,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

NWS Damage Survey team confirmed a tornado occurred Monday evening, 5/18/2026, beginning at 9:47 PM CDT in southwestern Ray County Missouri. This tornado caused primarily tree damage along its path, but did impact two properties, one north of Fishing River, shortly after the tornado developed. EF1 Damage to two power poles, one out building was noted, along with the roll over of an empty livestock trailer. The tornado resulted in widespread EF1 tree damage near Reynolds Road and W 108th Street. The tornado continued east-northeast, crossing highway 10 south of Elkhorn before causing tree damage north of Swanwick before crossing highway 13. The tornado ended near the intersection of Frazier Road and Millville Road at 10:06 PM CDT.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1325088)

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 Ray 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?

53% of its hail reports since 1955 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 Ray County

FEMA's register lists 33 declarations that include Ray County: 26 major disasters, 7 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (17) and flood (8).

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 Ray County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 58 flood or flash flood records for Ray County from 1996 to 2021, on 47 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Ray County ranks 964th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $2.2 million on 191 claims filed in Ray County; the most in one year was 136 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 Ray County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Ray County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $13.4 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 Ray County

1. Jackson County 1,806
2. Clay County 1,119
3. Lafayette County 563
4. Clinton County 448
5. Ray County 416
6. Carroll County 366
7. Caldwell County 308

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 Ray CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Ray County's FEMA declarations (CSV)33 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis