Webster County, Missouri

What hazards hit Webster County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 275 since 1956. 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 Webster County had?

NOAA records 42 tornadoes in Webster County from 1954 to 2026, the strongest rated EF3, with 2 deaths and 33 injuries recorded in the county. That is 18th 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 Webster County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 42: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 3 people, 2 of them in Webster 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 Webster County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 26, 2026 tornado ($20,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

A National Weather Service ground survey determined that an EF-0 tornado with estimated peak winds of 80 mph occurred 2 miles north of Mountain Dale, or 4 miles north of Seymour. Both video of the tornado and the ground survey revealed an intermittent 75 yard wide path of mostly tree damage, lasting for 6 minutes and traveling one and a half miles. The most substantial damage was a tin roof blown off a barn. Track extensions are still possible with satellite data analysis.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1334776)

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 Webster 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?

Records by month in Webster County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Webster County

FEMA's register lists 33 declarations that include Webster County: 26 major disasters, 7 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (20) and flood (5).

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 Webster County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 269 flood or flash flood records for Webster County from 1996 to 2026, on 138 days, with 2 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Webster County ranks 2262nd of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $341,000 on 13 claims filed in Webster County; the most in one year was 4 in 2008. 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 Webster County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Webster County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $16.9 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 Webster County

1. Greene County 2,307
2. Christian County 1,110
3. Douglas County 1,076
4. Webster County 999
5. Wright County 860
6. Laclede County 800
7. Dallas County 624

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