Wayne County

Every recorded tornado

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

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, Wayne$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. Aug 26, 2009Flash Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency Manager reported flash flooding at several locations over the southwest half of Wayne County between 2030 and 2400 CDT. Several roads were closed due to high water rushing bumper deep. Numerous basements were flooded in Corydon.

3. Mar 6, 2017Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS storm survey confirmed a tornado touched down about six miles southwest of Seymour in Wayne County where several trees sustained major damage and several farmsteads were damaged. The tornado then tracked northeast through rural sections of Wayne County and produced sporadic tree damage. The tornado then moved into the south side of Seymour and produced significant damage to |several homes and structures with the partial collapse of walls and roof structures and widespread tree damage. A brick school building also sustained major damage to its roof and walls. After doing additional damage to residences to the northeast of the school, it exited Seymour and crossed into Appanoose County.

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

   Gravel roads were washed out across Wayne County with numerous bridges under water. Emergency Management asked that the public not travel on hard top or gravel roads.

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

   Two people were rescued from vehicles at two locations southeast of Corydon. Seven to ten inch rainfall amounts were received. Travel was not advised on county roads.

6. Mar 5, 2022Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado formed southwest of Allerton and moved northeast snapping power poles along Idaho Road before clipping the southeast edge of Allerton. A manufactured house had its roof removed on the edge of town with the tornado snapping power poles and a back stop at a park on the east side of town. The tornado then remained in rural areas of central Wayne county with little damage noted. The circulation stayed just southeast of Corydon but did destroy a machine shed along Highway 2 east of town. The tornado continued northeast before dissipating north of Newton Road west of 180th Street.

7. Nov 10, 1998High Wind, Wayne$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…

8. Apr 30, 2024Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado began northwest of the intersection of Raccoon Road and 150th street. The tornado almost immediately impacted a large implement shed and an older wooden barn. The shed was completely destroyed and thrown northeast across 150th street into an adjacent farm field. The barn collapsed downward and shifted to the southeast. The tornado continued northeast through mostly empty cropland and rolling terrain. Some damage was done toward the end of the path near the intersection of Timber Road and 165th street with downed trees and minor outbuilding damage.

9. 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…

10. May 16, 1999Flood, Wayne$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    May of 1999 saw several significant flooding episodes across the Des Moines CWA. For the most part, central Iowa was spared the extremely heavy rainfall that caused major, and at several locations record, flooding along rivers in the northeast and east parts of the state. The most serious flooding was caused by heavy rains during the overnight hours of May 16. The heaviest rains fell in the counties just to the northeast of the Des Moines CWA. Up to 8 inches of rain fell over parts of Fayette County with anywhere from 2 to 6 inches falling over parts of Butler, Bremer, and Black Hawk Counties. Most of the rain fell in the Cedar River basin, which includes the West Fork Cedar…

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

108°F2 times, most recently Aug 4, 1918

All-time low

−33°FFeb 13, 1905

Warmest night

78°FAug 10, 1913

Coldest day

−10°FJan 15, 2024

Wettest day

9.25 inAug 27, 1903

Snowiest day

15.0 inApr 7, 1917

Hottest year

2012mean 53.3°F

Coldest year

2014mean 47.0°F

Wettest year

190949.79 in

Driest year

191019.98 in

Snowiest season

48.0 in2018-19

Station Allerton (USC00130149), 1,090 ft elevation, 4.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1902 to October 26, 2026; 89.5% 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 USC00130149.
• 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.