Buchanan County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Buchanan 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. Jun 1, 2008Flood$3.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major to record flooding occurred during the month of June 2008 with most forecast points above flood stage for the majority of the month. The flooding during this month was more prolific and severe than the flooding in April 2008, and the flooding in April had been the most prolific flood event since 1997.||While some locations were still experiencing flooding as June began, many of the tributary rivers to the Mississippi in Iowa rose above flood stage during the first few days of the month. At locations that were already above flood stage, the rivers stopped their fall and began climbing again.||Persistent heavy rain from late May into early June resulted in record crests on the…

2. Jul 23, 2016Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A trained spotter reported flash flooding in Independence. The gravel road at the high school complex was washed out and the parking lot was under several inches of water.

3. Jun 18, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms blasted Buchanan county with 75 to 80 mph straight-line winds. Widespread damage was reported across the county. Three homes were completely destroyed, 75 farmsteads sustained $500 to $10,000 damage, 50 farmsteads had damage in the $10,000 to $100,000 range and 25 farmsteads sustained damages totaling $100,000 to $150,000. These figures included damage to hog houses, barns, grain bins and sheds, and also farm equipment damaged by the storm. Numerous large trees were destroyed including 46 trees at Cedar Crest Cemetery.

4. May 11, 2000Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A second tornado touched down 4 miles southwest of Hazelton with a continuous path for 8 miles to a point 4 miles southeast of Hazelton. At it's maximum, it produced F1 damage with a path width of about 1000 feet. This includes damage to major power lines and a couple of farms. This was the strongest tornado in Buchanan County.

5. Apr 23, 2001Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Summary for Independence tornado event on 4/23/01:The exit region of a vigorous mid-level jet streak helped create deep layer convergence in eastern Iowa along a surface cold front, during the morning of 4/23/01. The atmosphere was only marginally unstable, but shear values were very high. A study of the event at the NWS in the Quad Cities suggest that the tornado was non-descending in nature, with the rotation originating near the surface and building upward. Spotters reported no lightning or thunder with the tornado, which the local study suggests indicated rapid development during the initial stages of the storm. There was no evidence from radar data that a tornado occurred.…

6. May 10, 2003Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong spring storm system moved through the Mississippi valley during the late afternoon and evening hours producing widespread severe weather. In an unprecedented move, WFO Quad Cities held a press conference the day before to warn of a high probability of significant tornadoes in the afternoon and evening hours of Saturday May 10th, with the area most at risk south of a Keosauqua, Iowa to Princeton, Illinois line. Supercell thunderstorms developed and continued into the evening hours spawning several long track tornadoes and produced copious amounts of large hail. Luckily, most of the tornado tracks were in open country and therefore damage was minimized.

7. May 25, 2008Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado developed just east of the county lines southwest of Fairbank and moved east. The tornado cross the southern part of Hazelton and continued east into Delaware County. Over ten homes, about 50 non-anchored mobile homes at a dealership, and numerous outbuildings were destroyed. Several other homes sustained structural damage. Numerous trees and utility poles were also blown down. An SUV was flipped over in Hazelton injuring the driver and some passengers.

8. May 10, 2003Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong spring storm system moved through the Mississippi valley during the late afternoon and evening hours producing widespread severe weather. In an unprecedented move, WFO Quad Cities held a press conference the day before to warn of a high probability of significant tornadoes in the afternoon and evening hours of Saturday May 10th, with the area most at risk south of a Keosauqua, Iowa to Princeton, Illinois line. Supercell thunderstorms developed and continued into the evening hours spawning several long track tornadoes and produced copious amounts of large hail. Luckily, most of the tornado tracks were in open country and therefore damage was minimized.

9. May 10, 2003Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong spring storm system moved through the Mississippi valley during the late afternoon and evening hours producing widespread severe weather. In an unprecedented move, WFO Quad Cities held a press conference the day before to warn of a high probability of significant tornadoes in the afternoon and evening hours of Saturday May 10th, with the area most at risk south of a Keosauqua, Iowa to Princeton, Illinois line. Supercell thunderstorms developed and continued into the evening hours spawning several long track tornadoes and produced copious amounts of large hail. Luckily, most of the tornado tracks were in open country and therefore damage was minimized.

10. May 25, 2008Flash Flood$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rains of 4 to 8 inches caused flash flooding in the vicinity of Lamont, IA during the late evening hours of May 25th. The fast moving water washed out a bridge in town. The flood waters damaged 240 of the town's 280 homes.

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

105°F3 times, most recently Aug 23, 2023

All-time low

−34°F2 times, most recently Jan 16, 2009

Warmest night

80°FAug 16, 1988

Coldest day

−16°FFeb 2, 1996

Wettest day

5.49 inJul 2, 1999

Snowiest day

13.2 inJan 3, 1971

Hottest year

2024mean 52.4°F

Coldest year

1972mean 43.7°F

Wettest year

201854.15 in

Driest year

198818.99 in

Snowiest season

60.0 in2018-19

Station Waterloo Municipal Airport (USW00094910), 867 ft elevation, 25.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1950 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00094910.
• 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.