Have Tropical Storms Ever Impacted Missouri? Surprisingly, Yes

This weekend a historic tropical storm is impacting California. Has one of these systems ever maintained enough strength to slam Missouri? The answer is surprisingly yes. As a matter of fact, it's happened on six different occasions.

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As of this writing, Hurricane Hilary is wreaking havoc on southern California bringing devastating flooding to desert areas that are not accustomed to this much moisture. This type of storm has not hit California in nearly 40 years.

Considering the fact that Missouri sits in the middle of the American continent, you'd think that tropical storms would never impact here, but you'd be wrong. According to the University of Missouri Climate Center, there have been 6 tropical systems that have remained tropical storms and maintained their identity over Missouri.

The first time a tropical storm hit Missouri was in September of the year 1900 when remnants of the horrific hurricane that destroyed much of Galveston, Texas made its way over Missouri and it was still a tropical storm at that point.

The University of Missouri Climate Center says while it's unusual, it's not that rare for remnants of a hurricane to bring tropical storm damage to Missouri:

On average, Missouri is affected by remnants of tropical storms or hurricanes every 2-3 years, whereas the chances a tropical storm will maintain its identity while moving into Missouri is about 1 in 20 years.

So you're saying there's a chance?

As Hurricane Hilary brings historic rainfall to southern California, know that these tropical systems can and sometimes do make their way to Missouri, too. It happens more often than you think.