Lee County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NASA (2).

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. May 8, 2003Hail$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first of 3 severe weather events occurred across Northeast Missouri, Eastern Iowa, and the Northern third of Illinois. Supercell thunderstorms developed in the late afternoon and evening north of a warm front that was associated with a powerful spring storm system. Favorable moisture and shear profiles allowed the storms to produce large hail and heavy rain. In Fort Madison, Iowa it was reported to be the most hail seen since 1993 with a car dealership reporting damage to about 400 cars on its lot along with numerous cars and buildings. In the Burlington, Iowa area, the most severe damage from the hail was on the south side of the city. Three schools and a golf course were…

2. Jun 1, 2008Flood$4.5 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…

3. May 8, 2003Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first of 3 severe weather events occurred across Northeast Missouri, Eastern Iowa, and the Northern third of Illinois. Supercell thunderstorms developed in the late afternoon and evening north of a warm front that was associated with a powerful spring storm system. Favorable moisture and shear profiles allowed the storms to produce large hail and heavy rain. In Fort Madison, Iowa it was reported to be the most hail seen since 1993 with a car dealership reporting damage to about 400 cars on its lot along with numerous cars and buildings. In the Burlington, Iowa area, the most severe damage from the hail was on the south side of the city. Three schools and a golf course were…

4. May 8, 2003Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first of 3 severe weather events occurred across Northeast Missouri, Eastern Iowa, and the Northern third of Illinois. Supercell thunderstorms developed in the late afternoon and evening north of a warm front that was associated with a powerful spring storm system. Favorable moisture and shear profiles allowed the storms to produce large hail and heavy rain. In Fort Madison, Iowa it was reported to be the most hail seen since 1993 with a car dealership reporting damage to about 400 cars on its lot along with numerous cars and buildings. In the Burlington, Iowa area, the most severe damage from the hail was on the south side of the city. Three schools and a golf course were…

5. May 8, 2003Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first of 3 severe weather events occurred across Northeast Missouri, Eastern Iowa, and the Northern third of Illinois. Supercell thunderstorms developed in the late afternoon and evening north of a warm front that was associated with a powerful spring storm system. Favorable moisture and shear profiles allowed the storms to produce large hail and heavy rain. In Fort Madison, Iowa it was reported to be the most hail seen since 1993 with a car dealership reporting damage to about 400 cars on its lot along with numerous cars and buildings. In the Burlington, Iowa area, the most severe damage from the hail was on the south side of the city. Three schools and a golf course were…

6. May 8, 2003Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first of 3 severe weather events occurred across Northeast Missouri, Eastern Iowa, and the Northern third of Illinois. Supercell thunderstorms developed in the late afternoon and evening north of a warm front that was associated with a powerful spring storm system. Favorable moisture and shear profiles allowed the storms to produce large hail and heavy rain. In Fort Madison, Iowa it was reported to be the most hail seen since 1993 with a car dealership reporting damage to about 400 cars on its lot along with numerous cars and buildings. In the Burlington, Iowa area, the most severe damage from the hail was on the south side of the city. Three schools and a golf course were…

7. May 10, 2003Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado developed 1.5 miles west of Argyle at 1728 CST and moved northeast for 11.5 miles before dissipating 1.3 miles North of Viele at 1747 CST. A maximum rating of F2 was noted just west of Argyle where a house was turned approximately 120 degrees and moved 25 to 40 feet off its foundation. Three teens ran inside the house and sought shelter, 2 in an interior bathroom and the other under the stairs. Three large trees on the back edge of the property stopped the house and likely prevented the teens from being injured or killed. The remainder of the damage path saw F0 and F1 damage.

8. May 21, 2003Flood, Lee$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…

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

   The first of 3 severe weather events occurred across Northeast Missouri, Eastern Iowa, and the Northern third of Illinois. Supercell thunderstorms developed in the late afternoon and evening north of a warm front that was associated with a powerful spring storm system. Favorable moisture and shear profiles allowed the storms to produce large hail and heavy rain. In Fort Madison, Iowa it was reported to be the most hail seen since 1993 with a car dealership reporting damage to about 400 cars on its lot along with numerous cars and buildings. In the Burlington, Iowa area, the most severe damage from the hail was on the south side of the city. Three schools and a golf course were…

10. May 12, 2010Flash Flood$859,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Heavy rains resulted in some flash flooding of several streets in Fort Madison, IA during the late evening hours of May 12 and early morning hours of May 13. The flood waters were 1 to 1.5 feet deep along 14th Street. Several creeks overflowed their banks.

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

107°FJul 26, 1916

All-time low

−23°FJan 10, 1982

Warmest night

89°FJul 22, 1901

Coldest day

−8°F2 times, most recently Feb 2, 1996

Wettest day

8.50 inAug 6, 1959

Snowiest day

18.0 inFeb 1, 2011

Hottest year

2012mean 56.5°F

Coldest year

1978mean 48.5°F

Wettest year

197060.11 in

Driest year

191019.82 in

Snowiest season

43.0 in1911-12

Station Fort Madison (USC00133007), 527 ft elevation, 5.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 14, 2026; 97.8% 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 USC00133007.
• 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.