Allamakee County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Allamakee County: 0.
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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NASA (1).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 22, 2013Flash Flood$6.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Mudslides occurred over the eastern section of the county from Lansing to north of Harpers Ferry covering portions of County Road X52. Other flash flooding occurred over much of the county. A campground in the Yellow River State Forest had to be evacuated with 80 campers moved to community building in Harpers Ferry. No injuries occurred, but one car was swept away by flood waters on Little Paint Creek. In Waukon, a number of businesses had water up to two feet deep in them with basements completely filled with water. The flooding also caused the utility company to shut off natural gas service to about 60 customers to prevent the possibility of gas leaks to appliances that could…

2. May 1, 2001Flood, Allamakee$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   During April 2001, the Mississippi River crested at levels second only to the all-time flood of record, which occurred in April 1965. Flooding continued until the middle of May, at which time water levels dropped below flood stage for the first time in several weeks. Considerable damage was done to homes and businesses, especially in the communities of McGregor and Guttenberg (Clayton County). Both Allamakee and Clayton County received federal disaster relief funds.

3. Jun 7, 2008Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Excessive rainfall caused fairly widespread flash flooding across the county. Steep terrain enhanced the flash flood threat causing mud slides and damaged infrastructure. Numerous roads were washed out and bridges damaged. A mud slide at Camp Tahigwa Girl Scout camp near Dorchester trapped part of the staff, but no one was injured. In Dorchester, the Waterloo Creek flash flooded swamping several mobile homes or trailers and cars along Highway 76. Water swept through town very quickly trapping people on their cars and roof tops. There were three injuries as a result.

4. Apr 13, 2001Flood, Allamakee$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The combination of snow melt runoff and heavy rains caused the Mississippi River to rise to levels second only to the all-time record flood of April 1965. At Lansing (Allamakee County), the river crested at 19.9 feet on April 21. Further downstream, McGregor and Guttenberg (Clayton County) crested at 23.8 feet on April 20 and 21.6 feet on April 22 respectively. Considerable damage was done to homes and businesses by the high water, especially in the small towns of Marquette and Guttenberg (Clayton County). Overall damage costs due to the high water were estimated between 4 and 5 million dollars. This resulted in Allamakee and Clayton County being eligible for federal disaster…

5. Jun 7, 2008Flood$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many roads, mainly secondary, were washed out in the county. Rainfall totals of 5-7 inches were reported for the weekend of June 7-8 with widespread flood problems. About 2500 acres of crops were damaged.

6. Jun 8, 2008Flash Flood$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Another round of thunderstorms led to additional flash flooding with numerous more mudslides reported by the county and more roads damaged.

7. Jun 8, 2008Flood$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Upper Iowa River at Dorchester crested around 1 a.m. CDT on June 9 at a record level of 22.46 feet. The previous record crest was 22.2 feet on February 28, 1948. Flood stage is 14.0 feet.

8. Aug 24, 2016Flash Flood$513,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Runoff from heavy rain caused flooding to occur in Lansing along Clear Creek. Two people had to be rescued when the cabin they were sleeping in was moved off its foundation. The cabin became lodged against some trees allowing rescuers to reach them with a boat. The cabin was destroyed. 5.2 inches of rain was reported around 130 a.m. The runoff also caused a mudslide to occur north of Lansing.

9. Aug 19, 2007Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rounds of thunderstorms led to significant flash flooding over much of the county, but especially the northern parts where mudslides occurred. Rainfall was 2-5 over the county. Damage was mainly to infrastructure.

10. Jun 17, 2026Tornado$450,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    This strong and long-tracked EF-2 tornado began about 5 miles east of Waukon and continued east-southeast causing a continuous path of tree damage all the way to the Misssissippi River near Lock and Dam 9. The tornado also damaged farm outbuildings and a few residences. Extensive tree damage along Waterville Road formed the basis for the EF-2 rating for this tornado. The tornado crossed the Mississippi River and continued east into Wisconsin.

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

101°F2 times, most recently Aug 17, 1988

All-time low

−43°FJan 30, 1951

Warmest night

86°FJul 14, 1995

Coldest day

−14°FFeb 2, 1996

Wettest day

6.60 inJun 26, 2021

Snowiest day

14.4 inMar 11, 1941

Hottest year

2012mean 52.8°F

Coldest year

1974mean 44.8°F

Wettest year

201954.74 in

Driest year

195817.98 in

Snowiest season

71.6 in1961-62

Station Lynxville Dam 9 (USC00474937), 633 ft elevation, 16.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1939 to October 23, 2026; 97.2% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00474937.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.