Mitchell

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Davison County, the county that contains Mitchell.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Davison County, the county that contains Mitchell.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Davison County, the county that contains Mitchell.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 12, 2019Flood$15.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall from September 10-12 totalling 7 to 8 inches near Mitchell led to widespread areal flooding. Travel was significantly hampered across most of the county, including the closure of Interstate 90. Smaller creeks and ponding resulted in the closure of most township and county roads. Five miles south of Mitchell, a bridge over Enemy Creek was washed out, requiring a swift water rescue of one person who was overwhelmed by the current. Three residents located one-half mile east of this bridge were also evacuated from waist deep waters. This bridge was one of nine damaged across the county. A no-wake order was placed on Lake Mitchell due to extremely high water. Significant…

2. Jun 20, 2024Flood$10.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall amounts across Davison County from June 20-22 ranged from 5 to 9 inches. Overland flooding ensued with additional major flooding along Firesteel Creek and the James River. ||County-wide, flood damages to roads ranged from gravel wash to more significant impacts involving erosion and culvert wash outs. One of the more significant road damages occurred along 255th St when a private dam failed and caused part of the road to give way. An estimated 4.24 million dollars of damage to public infrastructure was reported. Flood water also damaged around 149 homes and 9 businesses, resulting in an estimated loss of 5.42 million and 343 thousand dollars, respectively. ||In the city…

3. Aug 5, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wet microburst with winds estimated at 120 mph caused heavy damage in and around Mitchell. Apartments and several mobile homes were destroyed, vehicles were overturned, and other damage occurred to buildings and vehicles. Widespread tree and power line damage also occurred. Ten people were injured, although the majority of the injuries were minor. The damage path was approximately a mile and a half long and a mile wide, extending over the southwest part of Mitchell.

4. Jul 24, 2002Hail$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail caused severe damage to numerous vehicles, including many at car dealerships. Damage also occurred to windows, siding, and shingles on buildings. The hail caused damage to greens at a municipal golf course.

5. May 5, 2012Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail caused widespread damage to vehicles, buildings, and structures in and near Mitchell. In addition to dented vehicles and broken windows, the hail damaged the roofs and siding of homes and businesses. Two of the highest individual damage amounts included $175,000 to the Corn Palace, the roof of which needed replacing, and $100,000 damage to the roof of the Central Electric Cooperative Building. The roofs of numerous homes suffered lesser damages, and siding was also damaged. Damaged vehicles included several law enforcement and other city and county government vehicles.

6. Apr 1, 2011Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flooding of the James River, as well as flooding of small streams and lakes in the county, continued through April. Much farmland remained flooded, both near to and away from the James River. The James River was 6.7 feet above flood stage near Mitchell on April 1st, and fell very slowly during the month. A large area of land and numerous roads were flooded at the start of the month. Water was running over other roads, from flooded streams, creeks, and fields as well as from the James River. Many roads were heavily damaged. Some homes and businesses were also flooded, with the flooding of these places slowly alleviating through the month. High water and groundwater levels…

7. Nov 27, 2005Ice Storm, Davison$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy freezing rain coated roads, trees, power lines, and most other objects with ice up to 3 inches thick. Travel quickly became difficult to impossible. Many roads including Interstate Highways 90 and 29 were closed for extended periods of time. Most schools and businesses were forced to close. Electric power was lost over widespread areas when many miles of power lines and thousands of poles were knocked down, with more damaged. Strong winds which accompanied the ice storm and the immediately following blizzard combined with the weight of the ice to bring down many of the power lines and poles. Tens of thousands of households and businesses lost power, with the time power was…

8. Mar 13, 2019Flood$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding resulted in extensive damage to public infrastructure including numerous county and township roads, culverts, and some bridges. The property damage costs include estimates for public property losses.

9. Jun 20, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused widespread damage to trees, power lines, farm structures, and homes. Five people were injured at Ethan when a mobile home was destroyed.

10. Jun 24, 2003Tornado$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A tornado damaged crops, trees, and numerous buildings on several farms. On one farm the northeast corner of a home was heavily damaged, and several buildings including a barn, a grainery, and a machine shed were destroyed. Large trees were blown down.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

114°F3 times, most recently Jul 24, 1940

All-time low

−41°FJan 12, 1912

Warmest night

94°FJun 30, 1911

Coldest day

−22°FJan 1, 2018

Wettest day

5.83 inApr 30, 1942

Snowiest day

19.0 in2 times, most recently Mar 2, 2007

Hottest year

1987mean 52.1°F

Coldest year

2019mean 43.4°F

Wettest year

201940.13 in

Driest year

198011.01 in

Snowiest season

80.3 in1961-62

Station Alexandria (USC00390128), 1,354 ft elevation, 13.3 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 28, 2026; 92.8% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Davison County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00390128.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.