Severe Weather and Heavy Rain from the Great Lakes to the Mid-Atlantic; Heat Persists in the East

Widespread strong thunderstorms with damaging winds and locally heavy rain are expected from the Upper Ohio Valley into the southern Mid-Atlantic today and portions of the central Appalachians and Carolinas on Saturday. Monsoonal moisture will bring a flash flooding threat to the Desert Southwest. Sweltering heat persists from the Plains to the southern Mid-Atlantic through tonight. Read More >

Overview

During the afternoon of July 4, 2026, a destructive line of severe thunderstorms caused a narrow swath of significant damage across northeastern Cole County in central Missouri. While wind damage was observed across Cole, Callaway, and Osage Counties, the most worst impacts occurred east of Jefferson City to Osage City along the Missouri River. Here, winds are estimated to have been up to 105 mph. This summary details the damage assessment performed by the National Weather Service of this destructive wind event.

We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to the emergency management agencies in Cole County and Callaway County, who significantly aided our damage assessment efforts.

Base reflectivity (left panel) and base velocity (right panel) radar data from KLSX at 2:54pm on July 4, 2026 when some of the worst damage was occurring in central Missouri.

Photo & Video
Storm Reports

Photos & Video


Drone footage of damaged homes and trees east of Jefferson City, MO. (Source: Cole County EMA)	Drone footage of snapped trees east of Jefferson City, MO. (Source: Cole County EMA)	Drone footage of snapped trees east of Jefferson City, MO. (Source: Cole County EMA)	Drone footage of snapped trees east of Jefferson City, MO. (Source: Cole County EMA)


Drone footage of snapped trees east of Jefferson City, MO. (Source: Cole County EMA)	Drone footage of snapped trees east of Jefferson City, MO. (Source: Cole County EMA)	Drone footage of structure damage east of Jefferson City, MO. (Source: Cole County EMA)	Drone footage of damaged homes and trees east of Jefferson City, MO. (Source: Cole County EMA)


Uprooted tree east of Jefferson City, MO. (Source: NWS Survey)	Snapped trees east of Jefferson City, MO. (Source: NWS Survey)	Snapped trees east of Jefferson City, MO. (Source: NWS Survey)	Uprooted trees and snapped power poles east of Jefferson City, MO. (Source: NWS Survey)