Rural Missouri - February 2025 - 24

RM | OUTDOORS
Left: An Ozark Electric lineman knocks ice off the co-op's power lines during the ice storm of 2007, then considered the worst in co-op history.
Two years later a more devastating storm would hit southeast Missouri. Photo by Bob McEowen, Rural Missouri. Right: The Mississippi River froze
solid in 1905, allowing this woman to walk on its ice-jumbled surface near Eads Bridge. Photo courtesy Missouri Historical Society St. Louis.
FORECAST: Weird, wild weather
Missouri known for extremes
by Jim McCarty | jmccarty@ruralmissouri.coop
D
on't like Missouri weather? Just wait and it will
change. Situated at the center of weather patterns
that can suck warm, moist air from the Gulf of
Mexico, dry air from the Southwest deserts and
cold air from Canada, Missouri's weather is the result of a
collision of these competing air masses. Throw in the lack
of any natural barriers like major mountain ranges, it's no
wonder storms, cold fronts and heat waves can sweep into
the state with dramatic results. Over the years this has
produced weird, wild and unpredictable weather.
Take the wacky weather on Nov. 11, 1911. As the sun
rose, temperatures around the state were unseasonably
warm, climbing into the 70s. By noon a southerly breeze
pushed the mercury into the lower 80s, breaking high
temperature records in Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia
and St. Louis.
Residents enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather,
unaware that an arctic cold front was poised to enter the
state. In Columbia the southerly wind shifted to northerly
gusts topping 40 mph. From 82 degrees at 2 p.m., the
temperature plummeted to a cold, rainy 38 one hour later
- that's 44 degrees in an hour.
Soon the rain turned to sleet. By midnight Columbia
saw a record low for the day of 13 degrees. In one day, the
temperature fell 69 degrees. This record still stands. For
the state the temperature drop averaged 50 degrees in less
than 3 hours and 65 to 70 degrees over 18 hours.
Precipitation also can vary wildly from year to year.
Missouri's driest year was 1953, when 25.12 inches fell.
Compare that to the wettest year, 1973, with 57.14 inches.
Snowfall can fluctuate too. The snowiest month ever was
24 RURAL MISSOURI | FEBRUARY 2025
March 1960 with a state average snowfall of 20.6 inches.
However, Kansas City recorded 40.2 inches of snow in
March 1912, while the deepest snow - 36 inches - was
recorded in Union in 1960.
Here's some of the wildest weather Missouri has experienced
in its 200-plus years of statehood.
Warm as Warsaw
Extremely high temperatures were the rule all over the
United States during the summer of 1954. All-time records
fell as far north as South Dakota, with the Kansas City
Times reporting this was the worst heat wave since 1936
when there were 53 days of 100-degree heat.
Missouri was no exception, with Warsaw and Union
tying for the hottest temperature ever recorded in the
state, 118 degrees on July 14, 1954. Elsewhere in the
state, the mercury climbed to 114 in Butler, 113 in Columbia
and 110 in Rolla.
The front page of the Sedalia Democrat carried a banner
headline reading: " Today is hottest day ever in Sedalia. "
The official reading at 2:55 p.m. was 115 degrees, 1 degree
higher than the previous record.
The Washington Citizen opined that " everybody except
the ice man agreed that it was just too blamed hot. " The
paper reported an egg placed on an iron lid in front of the
office " slowly went through the process of frying. "
The blame for the hot weather was high pressure that
pushed cooler air to the north, drawing hot air from the
south into the Midwest for an extended period. The Times
reported July 14 marked the eighth day that month the
100-degree mark was reached. No relief was in sight. The
blistering heat would last into September.
The Kansas City Star reported 52 heat-related deaths
in Missouri. Parks were packed with people camped out to
beat the heat. Factory workers walked off the job, saying it
was too hot to work. Heavy poultry, cattle and hog losses

Rural Missouri - February 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - February 2025