Weather & Natural Hazards

Drought, wildfire & other hazards

Not every danger arrives as a storm. These hazards build slowly or slip past your guard — a dry spell that creeps up on the crops, grass fires on a windy spring day, a wall of fog, the soaking leftovers of a far-off hurricane, or a hazy summer sky. Each one is manageable once you know what to watch for.

The slow burns and quiet risks

Drought

Drought builds slowly and is easy to underestimate. It's tracked on the U.S. Drought Monitor, updated weekly. Severe drought plus heat is hard on crops and water supplies — and dangerous for people, too.

Wildfire & grass fires

Missouri's fire season is the dry, windy stretch of fall and early spring — and the most common mix-up is treating a fire-weather alert as if it were a ban on burning. They are two different things, and the data below spells out why that matters.

A Red Flag Warning is not a burn ban

Missouri's main fire danger comes in fall and early spring, when dead grass and leaves are dry and the wind is up (fire can happen any season). A Red Flag Warning means critical fire-weather conditions — dry fuels, low humidity, and wind. Important: a Red Flag Warning is NOT itself a burn ban. Burn bans are issued separately by counties, cities, and land managers — so when fire weather is bad, avoid burning and sparks AND check separately for a local burn ban.

Dense fog

A Dense Fog Advisory means visibility is dropping fast. Slow down, leave extra following distance, and use your low beams — high beams reflect off the fog and make it harder to see.

Tropical remnants

Missouri is far from the coast, but the leftovers of a Gulf hurricane or tropical storm sometimes reach the state. Treat tropical remnants as a flooding threat — they bring heavy, soaking rain.

Because the danger is water, not wind, prepare for it the way you would any heavy rain — see flooding for the rules that keep you safe, including Turn Around, Don't Drown.

Air quality

On hot, stagnant summer days (ozone) and when smoke drifts in from far-off wildfires, air quality can drop. Check AirNow and local health guidance, and on bad-air days, sensitive groups — children, older adults, and people with asthma, heart, or lung conditions — should take it easier outside.

Missouri Porch explains the hazard; the National Weather Service and your local officials call the warning.

Last checked: 2026-06-18. Hazards repeat, so most of this page stays true year to year — but alert-product names, the year's stats, and the ShakeOut date can change. Check the date above, and always follow the live National Weather Service warning and your local officials over anything written here.

This site explains and prepares — it is not a live warning. When a warning is issued, follow it and your local emergency officials immediately; they have the live picture. This is not insurance, legal, or medical advice. In any life-threatening emergency, call 911.

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