Keokuk County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Keokuk County: 3.
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.

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$570,000
   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…

2. May 10, 2003Hail$500,000
   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.

3. May 10, 2003Hail$500,000
   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.

4. Aug 10, 2010Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains during the second week of August resulted in the Skunk River at Sigourney going above the moderate flood stage level of 18 feet on August 10 around 6 am CDT. It crested above the major flood stage level around 23.6 feet around 1 am CDT August 12. It fell below the moderate flood stage level around 1040 pm CDT August 17.

5. Aug 27, 2009Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains during the last week of August resulted in the North Skunk River at Sigourney going above the moderate flood stage level of 18 feet on August 27 around 5 pm. It crested around 20.53 feet around 1245 pm August 28. It fell below the moderate flood stage level around 230 pm on August 29.

6. May 13, 2010Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains during the second week of May resulted in the Skunk River at Sigourney going above the moderate flood stage level of 18 feet on May 13 around 5 am. It crested several times between 19.1 and 19.3 feet from 7pm May 13 to 1 pm May 16. It finally fell below the moderate flood stage level around 9 pm May 17.

7. Jun 12, 2010Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains during the second and third weeks of June resulted in the Skunk River at Sigourney going above the moderate flood stage level of 18 feet on June 12 around 11 pm. It crested above major flood stage around 22.2 feet at 7 am June 16. After falling below the moderate flood stage on the 23rd, it rose back above it on the afternoon of the 26th. It crested again at 18.2 feet at 1 am June 27. It fell below the moderate flood stage level around 4 am June 27.

8. May 1, 2009Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains during the last week of April resulted in the North Skunk River at Sigourney going above the moderate flood stage level of 18 feet on April 30th around 11 am. It crested around 19.17 feet around 8:45 pm April 30. It fell below the moderate flood stage level around 6 pm on May 1.

9. Feb 24, 2007Ice Storm, Keokuk$291,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A trained spotter in What Cheer reported 4 inch diameter tree branches down, with ice accumulations of one inch.

10. Jun 22, 2009Flood$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rains during the middle of the month resulted in the Skunk River at Sigourney going above the moderate flood stage level of 18 feet on June 22nd around 5 am. It crested around 19.13 feet around 1115 pm on June 22 and again around 18.56 feet around 1145 pm on June 23. It fell below the moderate flood stage level around 3 pm June 24.

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

113°FJul 22, 1901

All-time low

−32°FJan 31, 2019

Warmest night

83°F3 times, most recently Aug 16, 1983

Coldest day

−15°FFeb 3, 1996

Wettest day

5.34 inJun 12, 1946

Snowiest day

14.0 in3 times, most recently Feb 2, 2011

Hottest year

1946mean 54.6°F

Coldest year

2014mean 45.9°F

Wettest year

199356.36 in

Driest year

195315.53 in

Snowiest season

59.7 in1925-26

Station Sigourney (USC00137678), 732 ft elevation, 2.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1896 to October 27, 2026; 95.2% 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 USC00137678.
• 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.