Webster County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Aug 1, 2003Drought, Webster$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. Dec 23, 2009Ice Storm, Webster$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Part 1 of 2: A major winter storm system affected the central U.S. during Christmas week. There were two upper level systems involved with this storm. The southern stream low dove into the southern U.S. and then turned northeast. The turn was sharper than is typical as the northern stream upper low pushed southeast. The southern stream and polar low interacted with each other, resulting in a Fuji Wara effect. The southern low turned north, then eventually northwest and moved from northern Louisiana into Iowa. This resulted in a considerable amount of warm air being drawn north over Iowa. Cold air remained in place at the surface due to an existing deep snow cover over most of the…

3. Mar 14, 2019Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency reported water had started to rise along Riverside Trail between Fort Dodge and Otho, and will impact residential areas. Webster County has begun to evacuate some residents. The emergency manager also noted ice jam action likely starting near Lehigh.|The ice jam near Lehigh on the Des Moines River ended up flooding many homes and structures in the town of Lehigh. Many roads were closed as well.

4. Aug 9, 2009Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A very warm, moist, and unstable airmass was in place over Iowa from 8th into the 9th. Surface temperatures on the 8th warmed into the upper 80s and 90s, with dew point readings in the 70s. A weak cold front moved into the state during the evening of the 8th and early morning of the 9th. There was little thunderstorm development initially as the airmass was capped. Temperatures at the 700 mb level were +14 to +17 C. During the early morning hours of the 9th, a short wave lifted northeast out of the southern Rockies. This resulted in cooling of the mid levels of the atmosphere, thus destabilizing the airmass. The cold front stall out during the morning of the 9th as a second short…

5. Mar 14, 2007Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very warm temperatures moved into Iowa during the previous several days. High temperatures warmed into the 50s and 60s across snow covered areas. This caused considerable snow melt, leading to flooding along area rivers. Many of the rivers remained ice covered as the water rose. Ice broke free and began flowing down the river during the night of the 13th into the day on the 14th. Flash flooding in Webster, Emmet and Dallas Counties. An ice jam on the Des Moines River in Webster County north of Fort Dodge caused rapid rises on the river. Flooding and chunks of ice damaged 20 to 30 homes in the Fort Dodge area. Several vehicles were also damaged. Later in the morning, an ice jam on…

6. Jun 8, 2008Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain fell once again across a large part of Iowa, especially across the north and northeast. This rain fell on rivers that were already close to flood stage as they were just beginning to fall after the flooding from earlier in the month. The rainfall of the first week of June set the state for what would become record flooding over a large part of the northeast half of Iowa, even eclipsing the records set just 15 years previous in 1993. Damage became widespread, both to property and infrastructure as well as agriculturally. More details of the record rains will be included with the next event, which occurred just a couple days later.

7. Jun 27, 2010Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Standing water across much of the city. Water under Highway 169 underpass at railroad bridge. Three feet of water at the Crossroads Mall. Flooding along 1st Ave South and 2nd Ave North and at North 21st St. Many other reports as well.

8. Jun 26, 2011High Wind, Webster$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A dynamic pattern was once again in place over the central U.S. A strong surge of moisture took place during the day on the 26th, with precipitable water values rising to over 2 inches by evening. The airmass became very unstable with the lifted index falling to around -8 and CAPE in excess of 4000 J/kg. The atmosphere was quite warm with the freezing level between 15,000 and 16,000 feet. CAPE in the -10 to -30 C layer of the atmosphere was around 600 J/kg. Downdraft CAPE was quite high, in the 1200 to 1500 J/kg range. Considerable shear was available with shear in the 50 to 65 kt range. Meanwhile, a strong mid level trough of low pressure approached the central U.S. along with a…

9. Nov 12, 2005Tornado$450,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado moved in from Boone County, then tracked into Hamilton County.

10. Sep 7, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$440,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The seasons first dynamic cold front moved southeast into Iowa during the evening hours of the 7th. Temperatures warmed rapidly during the day on a gusty south wind. Readings topped out in the mid 80s to low 90s across the state. Dew point temperatures climbed into the mid 60s to low 70s across the region by the late afternoon. These conditions combined to produce surface based CAPE values of 3500 to 4500 J/kg ahead of the front. A narrow line of thunderstorms developed just ahead of the cold front during the late afternoon hours. The environment became favourable for severe thunderstorm development as mid level winds were increasing and had increased to 50 to 60 kts before…

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

110°FJul 14, 1936

All-time low

−35°F2 times, most recently Jan 13, 1912

Warmest night

81°FAug 3, 1930

Coldest day

−15°FJan 6, 1912

Wettest day

6.50 inJun 25, 2005

Snowiest day

14.0 in2 times, most recently Dec 9, 2009

Hottest year

1931mean 52.6°F

Coldest year

2008mean 44.1°F

Wettest year

201851.91 in

Driest year

201218.76 in

Snowiest season

80.5 in2009-10

Station Fort Dodge 5NNW (USC00132999), 1,115 ft elevation, 7.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1899 to October 27, 2026; 92.5% 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 USC00132999.
• 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.