Appanoose County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 1, 2003Drought, Appanoose$12.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dry weather settled in over Iowa during the month. The last widespread rain occurred on 09 July. With the increasingly dry conditions became a primary concern as the month progressed. An extended period of heat and humidity from the 15th to 25th saw highs into the 90s to over 100 degrees F. in some locations. By month's end drought indices had worsened to severe to extreme drought across south central Iowa and at least moderate drought over the remainder of the HSA. Waterloo had its driest August on record, Des Moines its 3rd driest and Ottumwa its 8th driest. A cold front brought only a brief respite from the intense heat, as temperatures rebounded into the 90s to near 100…

2. Mar 6, 2017Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS storm survey confirmed a tornado touchdown on the south side of Centerville just after 830 pm. The tornado produced significant damage to a manufacturing facility with a partial collapse of walls and roof structures. The tornado tracked very quickly northeast damaging an outbuilding and taking a large section of a roof off a residence along Highway 2. Damage was also found to several outbuildings at a farmstead south of Udell with a camper being tipped on its side. The worst damage occurred near Centerville where damage was consistent with winds of 115 to 125 mph - or EF2 damage. Damage to the east was not quite as intense generally EF0 or EF1 damage. It should be noted that…

3. Aug 23, 2007Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several homes were evacuated due to high water in Centerville and Mystic. Water was flowing over county road T14 north of Mystic. Highway 2 just east of the Chariton River was reduced to one lane and the second lane was nearly under water.

4. Aug 24, 2007Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Water rescues occurred southwest of Mystic. Numerous county roads were under water throughout the county.

5. Jun 26, 2011Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several roads and bridges washed out in various locations across the southeast part of the county.

6. Nov 10, 1998High Wind, Appanoose$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Iowa experienced the worst November storm system since the great storm of 9 and 10 November 1975. During the 9th, low pressure developed over southeast Colorado. The low moved across Kansas during the afternoon and evening of the 9th and deepened to about 990 mb. Warm and moist air was drawn north ahead of the low resulting in widespread across the state. Thunderstorms erupted during the late evening of the 9th, though no severe weather occurred. During the predawn hours of the 10th, a jet streak rotated around the base of the upper level low pressure area. The jet stream, combined with a tropospheric fold, resulted in explosive deepening of the low. As the low moved through…

7. Apr 26, 2007Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong low pressure developed over eastern Colorado and moved southeast into northern Oklahoma by the 24th. Deep moisture was pulled north ahead of the low with surface dew points in the low 70s reaching northern Oklahoma. Strong isentropic lift took place over the Des Moines CWA and resulted in a large and sustained area of rain and embedded thunderstorms. Rainfall of two to over five inches of rainfall occurred over a large part of the CWA, with isolated amounts in the six to seven inch range over a 2 day period. This event brought about the flash flooding event of the evening of the 24th. The situation transitioned into a general areal flood event on the 25th, with several…

8. Aug 23, 2007Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Homes in the area were threatened by flash flooding.

9. Jul 20, 2010Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Closures included 135th St south of Highway J46 with a pickup truck stalled out. Water flowing over the road at Highway 2 east of Centerville, and the intersection of Highway T14 and Main Street. Flooding on roads west of Centerville near the Chariton River.

10. Jun 25, 2015Flood$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Chariton River at Moulton crested at 36.19 feet at 7:45 Am CST on 25 June.

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

106°FJul 23, 2012

All-time low

−27°FFeb 3, 1996

Warmest night

84°FAug 17, 1983

Coldest day

−14°FFeb 2, 1996

Wettest day

5.32 inSep 14, 1992

Snowiest day

15.0 inFeb 13, 1978

Hottest year

1987mean 54.3°F

Coldest year

2014mean 47.8°F

Wettest year

199854.52 in

Driest year

195319.09 in

Snowiest season

63.9 in1977-78

Station Ottumwa Ind Airport (USW00014950), 834 ft elevation, 33.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 16, 2026; 98.9% 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 USW00014950.
• 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.