St. Joseph, MO Tornado History — 89 Tornadoes Since 1950
How many tornadoes has St. Joseph, MO had?
St. Joseph has had 89 tornadoes on record within 25 miles since 1950, including 4 violent (EF3+) tornadoes.
When was the most recent tornado near St. Joseph?
The most recent tornado within 25 miles of St. Joseph was an EF0 on May 19, 2025.
When is tornado season in St. Joseph?
April is historically the peak month for tornadoes near St. Joseph, with 26 on record. Spring through early summer (April–June) generally sees the highest activity across most of the central and southern United States.
At a Glance
Recent Tornado Activity Near St. Joseph
The last 20 years of confirmed tornadoes within 25 miles — 12 total, averaging 0.6 per year over this window.
Preliminary tornado reports near St. Joseph since December 29, 2025
These is a preliminary report, not confirmed tornadoes. It has not yet been through an NWS damage survey, and is not counted in the confirmed totals above.
Preliminary reports are revised, merged, and sometimes withdrawn — historically about 23% are consolidated downward once surveys complete. Ratings are omitted until a survey assigns one.
Confirmed records above are complete through December 29, 2025. NOAA publishes the confirmed archive annually, so tornadoes after that date appear here first and move into the totals above once finalized.
Within 25 miles of St. Joseph. Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center preliminary storm reports, updated daily.
Tornadoes by Decade
Tornadoes by Enhanced Fujita Rating
F0–F5 ratings (pre-2007) are grouped with their EF equivalents. The Enhanced Fujita scale replaced the original Fujita scale in February 2007.
Tornadoes by Month
Casualties on Record Near St. Joseph
1 fatality has been recorded within 25 miles of St. Joseph since 1950, across 1 event. 72 injuries have been reported across all events. 1994 was the deadliest year on record.
The deadliest single event was a F2 on June 25, 1994, which caused 1 fatality along a 0.8-mile track.
Notable Tornadoes Near St. Joseph
About Tornadoes in St. Joseph
This overview was written August 10, 2026. The tornado counts and notable-event figures elsewhere on this page reflect the latest data and may differ from this summary.
Spring arrives in Saint Joseph trailing its stormiest weather: from April into June, the systems that cross northwest Missouri carry the ingredients tornadoes need, and the notable entries in the city's past cluster in those weeks. An F3 tornado tore a 6.5-mile path roughly 400 yards wide near the city on May 19, 1959. Another F3 struck on April 10, 1965, injuring 11 people along a 23.2-mile track. On April 27, 1984, an F3 carved a 32-mile path up to 1,200 yards across, injuring 9 and leaving damage estimated in the tens of millions of dollars. A brief F2 on June 26, 1994, killed 1 person and injured 2 despite a track under a mile long. An F3 crossed the area again on May 29, 2004. In the current era, an EF0 traced a short, narrow path on May 20, 2025.
The explanation lies in geography. Saint Joseph sits where humid air surging north from the Gulf of Mexico up the lower Missouri Valley meets drier continental air and sharp spring cold fronts, while jet-stream winds aloft supply the shear that lets thunderstorms rotate. That collision is at its sharpest in mid-spring and early summer, which is when the area's tornado activity in the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database has tended to fall. The event list elsewhere on this page is drawn from that same source, reflecting activity reaching from the 1950s into the 2020s.