Weather & Natural Hazards
Missouri Weather: Start Here
You are going to be okay if you get ready. This is the calm overview — why Missouri sees so much weather, which hazards reach your part of the state, and the one simple step that puts you ahead of almost all of it.
One idea to carry with you
Missouri gets a little of every kind of weather — and the time to get ready is before the sky turns.
The lay of the land
Why Missouri gets a little of everything
Missouri lies where three air masses fight it out: cold, dry air sweeping down from Canada, warm, wet air pushing up from the Gulf, and dry air coming off the western plains. When they collide, you get violent tornadoes, huge floods, ice storms, dangerous heat, big hail, and damaging winds — the whole menu. And the southeast corner, the Bootheel, sits over the New Madrid Seismic Zone, the most dangerous earthquake area east of the Rockies. No single part of the country gets quite this much variety.
From 1980 through 2024, 120 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters affected Missouri (NOAA counts nationwide events whose total U.S. losses topped $1 billion, adjusted for inflation — so these aren't 120 disasters wholly inside Missouri, but big events that reached the state). The pace has picked up sharply: the recent five-year average is far above the long-term one.
By region, by household
Which hazards threaten you
Almost every Missouri hazard is survivable if you do these four simple things ahead of time. They make a strong starting plan, in order.
Step 1
Know which hazards threaten you
Everyone in Missouri faces tornadoes, storms, heat, and ice; river towns add river flooding, the Ozarks add flash floods, and the southeast adds earthquakes.
Step 2
Tell a watch from a warning
A watch means be ready; a warning means act now. Knowing the difference tells you when to act.
Step 3
Set up at least two ways to get alerts
Include one that will wake you at night — a NOAA Weather Radio and Wireless Emergency Alerts on your phone.
Step 4
Have a simple plan and kit
Pick your shelter spots, make a family communication plan, and keep a few days of supplies ready.
The simplest first step
Do these two things today
Turn on the emergency alerts in your phone's settings, and pick the spot where you'll shelter from a tornado. That's it — those two small acts put you ahead of almost everything else.
From there, start with Watches, warnings & getting alerts — the most important page on this hub — then learn the protective action for tornadoes.
Part of the series
Weather safety connects to the rest of getting outside in Missouri. Explore the Outdoors hub, plus Rivers & Tubing, Boating, Hiking, and Camping.
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