National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Missouri and Illinois get a wide variety of weather but we have never had a Hurricane pass through the region.  However, we have had remnants of hurricanes and tropical storms pass through the region that brought gusty winds and lots of rain.  Hurricane Dennis was downgraded to a Tropical Storm shortly after landlfall and it was only a Tropical Depression when it passed the Bi-State area July 11-12. 

Since 1879...there have been 45 tropical systems (mostly the remains of the system) that have moved into the Missouri/Illinois region. Here is a quick look at some of the more recent tropical systems that moved into the area and the systems that caused the most significant weather.  

The last tropical system to approach the area was hurricane Lily in October 2002. Lily officially died on October 4 near the Missouri Bootheel and caused very little rain in Missouri or Illinois.  

The remains of tropical storm Barry moved into southeast Missouri in August 2001. However by the time it died in southeast Missouri there was little left except for a weak circulation...thus Barry caused Little rain.  

The last tropical system to cause significant weather was the remains of tropical storm Claudette in July 1979. On July 27, the remains of Claudette produced heavy rain and flooding across Southern Missouri. Flooding occurred in Springfield, Ste. Genevieve, Farmington, and Waynesville.  

Perhaps the most active tropical system to hit the region was tropical storm Candy in June 1968. In Missouri rainfall of 2 to 5 inches fell on the 24-25th on a line from Warsaw to Columbia to near Quincy, Illinois. The remains of Candy was also responsible for 5 tornados that occurred in southern Missouri. In Illinois Candy brought rainfall of 3 to 7 inches along a line from Quincy to Kankakee.  

On September 11-12...1965...the remains of hurricane Betsy brought 3 to 6 inches of rain in a 24-hour period across extreme southern Illinois. Local flooding was reported throughout the area.  

In September 1961 the remains of hurricane Carla brought heavy rain And flooding to northern Missouri and northern Illinois. Rainfall of 3 to 8 inches fell across northern Missouri from the 12-14th with the Hardest hit area near Kansas City. Flooding occurred on the Missouri River and most of its tributaries across western Missouri. The story was similar across northern Illinois as heavy rain caused local flooding on the 13-14th.

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