Jackson County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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 18, 2002Hail$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A cluster of thunderstorms weakened while moving into Northeast Iowa toward the noon hour near and northwest of Cedar Rapids. An isolated single cell continued to track east however, and with the mid afternoon heating intensified over Jones County. The storm eventually became a high precipitation supercell as it moved into Jackson County producing a swath of damaging hail up to baseball size and winds of 70 to 80 mph. The city of Maquoketa was hardest hit as most residents reported some property damage. Nearly 1,000 new and used vehicles from several automotive dealerships suffered hail damage. One owner of a car dealership was quoted as saying that the cars on his lot looked like…

2. Jul 17, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Local law enforcement reported significant damage to a building with nearby trees twisted and some farm equipment knocked over.

3. Jul 17, 2016Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS storm survey team reported an EF-1 tornado crossed the southern parts of the town of Andrew. A building at the local coop was destroyed and numerous trees were snapped.

4. Jun 1, 2007Tornado$3.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down about 3.5 miles south of Bellevue, IA. It moved north to county road Z15 and then northeast crossing the Mississippi River just south of Lock and Dam 12 into Jo Daviess County Illinois. Along the path, damage consisted of snapped and uprooted trees, farm out buildings, and roofs. The most significant damage occurred near the junction of county highway Z15 and 407th Avenue. A mobile home was rolled over and destroyed. The residents of the mobile home had taken shelter in the farm house about 100 feet away. The farm house only had damaged gutters.

5. Jul 27, 2011Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential downpours of rain fell across much of northeastern Jackson County during the evening of July 27 and early morning hours of July 28 resulting in flash flooding of much of the area. Rainfall totals of 7 to 15 inches were common across the area, with most of the rain falling in under 12 hours.||Several bridges were closed and roads washed out in northern Jackson County, including the bridge on 308th Street between Sieverding Ridge Road and U.S. 52, a wooden bridge in Tete De Morts Township on High Bridge Road, and a bridge on 248th Avenue. Some culverts on 370th Street were destroyed. Spruce Creek Park was evacuated. Some basements in Bellevue were also flooded. Annie's…

6. May 20, 2003Flood, Jackson$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A pattern change at the end of April brought a series of heavy rain producing systems to Eastern Iowa and Northern Illinois over the first 10 days of the month. Area rivers responded with the Iowa River going above flood stage starting on the 10th. The Cedar and Wapsipinicon Rivers followed by going above flood stage around the 15th. The Mississippi River also went above flood stage, beginning around the 20th. Most tributaries went below flood stage around the 20th, and most locations on the Mississippi that were above flood stage went below by the 28th.Most of the flooding was minor. One location-the Mississippi River at Gladstone Dam 18-experienced moderate flooding. Most…

7. Jul 24, 2010Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Three mobile homes and a business in Canton on the western edge of Jackson County were flooded with up to 3 feet of water by the Maquoketa River. Numerous roads and bridges across the county suffered damage as a result of the record flooding. Near Maquoketa, three homes in the Hurstville Road area were flooded. ||Near Spragueville, a welding business was inundated by several feet of water as flood waters from the Maquoketa River backed up along nearby Deep Creek. ||The majority of flood damage in Jackson County was to crops, as most soybean fields affected by the floods were expected to be a total loss.

8. Jul 7, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Another early morning MCS moved across Eastern Iowa and Northern Illinois producing heavy rain and damaging winds. Rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches an hour were common with the storms. Heavy rain along the North Fork of the Maquoketa River in Iowa pushed the river to bankfull. The Clinton Airport AWOS measured 48 knots (55 mph) as the storms moved through downing some trees and power lines in Clinton.

9. Jun 1, 2008Flood$599,000
   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…

10. Jun 5, 2010Tornado$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    At approximately 740 pm June 5, an EF1 tornado moved across the northern edge of Maquoketa, IA. Wind speeds were estimated to be around 105 mph. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped. Approximately 10 mobile homes and numerous vehicles were damaged by falling trees and tree limbs. A porch was torn from the front of a farm house and several outbuildings were damaged including an open-front garage that was completely destroyed. The sign at the elementary school school was destroyed and a rooftop air conditioner was moved, damaging the roof.

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 Jul 25, 2012

All-time low

−31°FJan 31, 2019

Warmest night

77°F4 times, most recently Jun 30, 2026

Coldest day

−16°FJan 30, 2019

Wettest day

8.85 inSep 14, 1967

Snowiest day

15.0 inMar 5, 1959

Hottest year

2024mean 51.3°F

Coldest year

2014mean 43.9°F

Wettest year

196163.39 in

Driest year

198822.57 in

Snowiest season

79.7 in2007-08

Station Dubuque Regional Airport (USW00094908), 1,040 ft elevation, 19.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1951 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00094908.
• 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.