PlainHazard

Missouri extreme cold

Every recorded extreme cold record since 1996 · 115 counties with a record

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 1,676 extreme cold records in Missouri from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 63 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the January 13, 2013 cold/wind chill in Reynolds County: 3 deaths. Missouri ranks 14th of 51 states and territories by count and 21st of 50 per square mile.

Extreme cold in Missouri, 1996 to 2026

Cold 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
1,6761996 to June 30, 2026
A year since 2000
63average
Deaths
80 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$209Mas filed
Busiest year
2021229 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 extreme cold records common in Missouri?

Missouri averages about 63 extreme cold records a year since 2000, 14th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2021 (229). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Missouri records 244 extreme cold records since 1996, 21st of 50 states and territories by that measure.

  1. 1. Maryland 1039
  2. 2. New Jersey 901
  3. 3. West Virginia 808
  4. 4. Vermont 703
  5. 5. New York 602
  6. 6. Kentucky 578
  7. 7. Delaware 565
  8. 8. Minnesota 532
  9. 9. Iowa 492
  10. 10. Illinois 483
  11. 21. Missouri 244

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 extreme cold records?

Per square mile, Perry County leads Missouri: 81 days with a extreme cold record since 1996, 170.8 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Bollinger County has the most cold records (81 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. Perry County 170.8 (81)
  2. Scott County 159.5 (67)
  3. Carter County 147.8 (75)
  4. Mississippi County 136.1 (56)
  5. Bollinger County 129.5 (81)
  6. Cape Girardeau County 127.9 (75)
  7. Ripley County 104.8 (66)
  8. Wayne County 102.7 (78)
  9. Butler County 90.7 (63)
  10. New Madrid County 83.0 (56)
  11. Stoddard County 75.3 (63)
  12. Worth County 45.0 (12)

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 the cold season in Missouri?

43% of its extreme cold records since 1996 fell in January and February. The busiest month is January (431 records).

The values, month by month

Jan 431 · Feb 290 · Mar 11 · Apr 415 · May 13 · Jun 0 · Jul 0 · Aug 0 · Sep 0 · Oct 232 · Nov 68 · Dec 216 (records).

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

What were the deadliest extreme cold records in Missouri?

Missouri: the storms with the most deaths since 1996
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2013-01-13 Cold/Wind ChillReynolds County · forecast zone Reynolds A father and his two young sons, as well as their 4 month old Labrador retriever, went on an approximately 16 mile round trip hike on the Ozark Trail in Mark Twain National Forest on January 12th. They were heading south to Sutton’s Bluff. The weather had been unusually warm with a high of 62 degrees recorded at the ... 3 0 –
2018-01-12 Cold/Wind ChillJackson County · forecast zone Jackson Kansas City Health Department confirmed that a homeless person died due to hypothermia. Temperatures across the area, were not considered to be extremely cold, as morning lows were in the 0 to 5 degree range, with wind chills dropping to -11 at KC International Airport. 1 0 –
2018-01-01 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillJackson County · forecast zone Jackson Kansas City Health Department confirmed the fatality of a homeless person, with the extremely cold wind chill values being a primary cause of the fatality. 1 0 –
2018-01-01 Cold/Wind ChillLaclede County · forecast zone Laclede Extreme cold temperatures were responsible for a death of a 52 year old female walking home in Lebanon. 1 0 –
2001-12-29 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillSt. Louis County · forecast zone St. Louis An 87 year old Woodson Terrace resident froze to death outside her home. She apparently went outside to get the mail, then fell near the back porch and was unable to get inside. The high temperature that day was 30 and the low 18. 1 0 –
2000-12-10 Extreme Cold/Wind ChillLafayette County · forecast zone Lafayette Arctic air gripped the region from around the 10th of December, through the end of the month. Except for a few hours on the 15th and 16th, temperatures remained below freezing through the entire period. Snow cover persisted from the 13th through the end of the month. Kansas City had its second coldest December on ... 1 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest extreme cold records in Missouri

Missouri: the most damaging storms since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2007-04-07 Frost/FreezeVernon County · forecast zone Vernon One storm episode: 32 records in 32 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $196M
2007-04-08 Frost/FreezeMississippi County · forecast zone Mississippi One storm episode: 7 records in 7 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $4.8M
2005-05-03 Frost/FreezeClark County · forecast zone Clark One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $4.0M
2021-04-20 Frost/FreezeWebster County · forecast zone Webster One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places, 2021-04-20 to 2021-04-21; the totals are the episode's. 0 0 $2.7M

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

Are extreme cold 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.

Extreme cold: Missouri and the United States by decade (2020s to June 30, 2026)
DecadeMissouriUnited StatesMissouri's share
1996-99705,5391.3%
2000s55014,7923.7%
2010s38518,1622.1%
2020-2667115,3294.4%

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent extreme cold records in Missouri

The 12 most recent records, to June 30, 2026
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-02-01 Cold/Wind ChillPemiscot County · forecast zone Pemiscot 0 0 –
2026-02-01 Cold/Wind ChillDunklin County · forecast zone Dunklin 0 0 –
2026-02-01 Cold/Wind ChillPerry County · forecast zone Perry 0 0 –
2026-01-31 Cold/Wind ChillPemiscot County · forecast zone Pemiscot 0 0 –
2026-01-31 Cold/Wind ChillDunklin County · forecast zone Dunklin 0 0 –
2026-01-31 Cold/Wind ChillScott County · forecast zone Scott 0 0 –
2026-01-31 Cold/Wind ChillCape Girardeau County · forecast zone Cape Girardeau 0 0 –
2026-01-31 Cold/Wind ChillBollinger County · forecast zone Bollinger 0 0 –
2026-01-30 Cold/Wind ChillPerry County · forecast zone Perry 0 0 –
2026-01-27 Cold/Wind ChillPemiscot County · forecast zone Pemiscot 0 0 –
2026-01-27 Cold/Wind ChillDunklin County · forecast zone Dunklin 0 0 –
2026-01-26 Cold/Wind ChillPemiscot County · forecast zone Pemiscot 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.

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