PlainHazard

Missouri drought

Every recorded drought record since 1996 · 115 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 2,482 drought records in Missouri from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 126 a year since 2000. The costliest was the August 1, 2012 drought ($214 million in 2025 dollars). Missouri ranks 10th of 51 states and territories by count and 14th of 50 per square mile.

Drought in Missouri, 1996 to 2026

Drought records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $1 million
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
Records
2,4821996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
126average
Deaths
0350 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$485Mas filed
Busiest year
2012603 records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.

Are drought records common in Missouri?

Missouri averages about 126 drought records a year since 2000, 10th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2012 (603). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Missouri records 361 drought records since 1996, 14th of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Hawaii 2624
  2. 2. New Jersey 1205
  3. 3. Delaware 1062
  4. 4. Oklahoma 971
  5. 5. Georgia 900
  6. 6. Texas 711
  7. 7. New Mexico 528
  8. 8. Alabama 527
  9. 9. Tennessee 477
  10. 10. Iowa 466
  11. 14. Missouri 361

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Missouri have the most drought records?

Per square mile, Mississippi County leads Missouri: 43 days with a drought record since 1996, 104.5 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Barry County has the most drought records (54 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

  1. Mississippi County 104.5 (43)
  2. Scott County 95.2 (40)
  3. Carter County 90.7 (46)
  4. Barton County 72.6 (43)
  5. Cedar County 71.7 (34)
  6. Ripley County 71.5 (45)
  7. Stone County 71.1 (33)
  8. Hickory County 70.2 (28)
  9. Dade County 69.4 (34)
  10. Schuyler County 68.3 (21)
  11. McDonald County 66.7 (36)
  12. Butler County 64.8 (45)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is drought season in Missouri?

Missouri's drought records by month. The busiest month is September (427 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 153 · Feb 88 · Mar 57 · Apr 79 · May 34 · Jun 116 · Jul 272 · Aug 405 · Sep 427 · Oct 407 · Nov 281 · Dec 163 (records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest drought records in Missouri

Missouri: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2012-08-01 DroughtJasper County · forecast zone Jasper One storm episode: 34 records in 34 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $214M
2011-08-01 DroughtNewton County · forecast zone Newton One storm episode: 6 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $55M
2023-12-01 DroughtVernon County · forecast zone Vernon One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $50M
2023-02-01 DroughtBarton County · forecast zone Barton One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $33M
2025-11-01 DroughtBarton County · forecast zone Barton One storm episode: 20 records in 20 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $30M
2005-08-01 DroughtScotland County · forecast zone Scotland One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $18M
2024-11-01 DroughtBarton County · forecast zone Barton One storm episode: 10 records in 10 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $17M
2022-11-01 DroughtPolk County · forecast zone Polk One storm episode: 16 records in 16 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 350 $13M

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are drought records becoming more frequent in Missouri?

Missouri's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Drought: Missouri and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeMissouriUnited StatesMissouri's share
1996-991085,6001.9%
2000s35618,5711.9%
2010s1,08631,4413.5%
2020-2693230,1473.1%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent drought records in Missouri

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-01 DroughtPemiscot County · forecast zone Pemiscot 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtDunklin County · forecast zone Dunklin 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtPemiscot County · forecast zone Pemiscot 0 0 –
2026-05-01 DroughtDunklin County · forecast zone Dunklin 0 0 –
2026-04-14 DroughtMississippi County · forecast zone Mississippi 0 0 –
2026-04-14 DroughtScott County · forecast zone Scott 0 0 –
2026-04-14 DroughtCape Girardeau County · forecast zone Cape Girardeau 0 0 –
2026-04-14 DroughtBollinger County · forecast zone Bollinger 0 0 –
2026-04-01 DroughtPemiscot County · forecast zone Pemiscot 0 0 –
2026-04-01 DroughtDunklin County · forecast zone Dunklin 0 0 –
2026-04-01 DroughtNew Madrid County · forecast zone New Madrid 0 0 –
2026-04-01 DroughtStoddard County · forecast zone Stoddard 0 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for drought records in Missouri

FEMA has declared 1 disaster in Missouri for drought, counting its incident type and declarations that name the hazard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on September 24, 1976.

The 12 most recent
DeclaredNumberTitleAreas named
1976-09-24EM-3017Drought94

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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