Adams County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NASA (1).

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. Jun 18, 2008Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A levee on the Mississippi River near Meyer failed and caused flash flooding in an area from Bear Creek northward toward the Adams/Hancock county line. The flood waters spread as far east as East 500th Street along the bluffs. A couple hours later a second levee break occurred aggravating the flooding situation. A couple dozen homes in Meyer were flooded as well as a couple of businesses. The entire town of 40 to 50 people had evacuated before the levee was breached.

2. Apr 20, 2025Tornado$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A weak tornado touched down along Hickman Road at 7:04 PM and destroyed an outbuilding with winds estimated as strong as 85 mph. It then moved northeast through Bailey Park and produced roof damage to another outbuilding along E 2400th Street near N 2150th Ave. The tornado continued to move northeast past Golden, IL and produced roof damage to multiple outbuildings along E 2700th Street between N 2500th Ave and N 2600th Ave before dissipating just north of N 2600th Ave at 7:10 PM. The tornado was rated EF-0 with a path length of 8.17 miles and a maximum path width of 100 yards.

3. Jun 4, 2008Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Mississippi River at Quincy crested at 30.80 feet on 6/18/2008. This is the second highest crest ever recorded. A major levee break just north of Meyer likely kept the crest from reaching a record. Several homes and businesses in the Meyer area were flooded. The Quincy, IL riverfront area was flooded closing one restaurant affecting some other businesses. Agricultural losses were estimated at $23.8 million.

4. Sep 18, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread wind damage extending from 2 miles northwest of Loraine to between Golden and Camp Point. Many trees, as well as tree limbs were blown down in Loraine, Golden and Camp Point. In Golden, a tree fell onto a house causing moderate roof damage. Also, numerous power lines and a couple of power poles were blown down. No injuries were reported.

5. May 27, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$35,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds downed trees and power lines. One tree fell through the roof of a house causing major damage.

6. May 19, 2025Flash Flood$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An emergency manager reported a subject stuck in her car in a foot of flood water between 12th Street and 18th Street on Seminary Road.

7. Oct 30, 2024Tornado$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF-0 tornado formed at 1130pm CDT just east of South 24th St. off of Lake Dr. North. As it quickly moved eastward, it produced sporadic tree damage and then minor structural in Payson Heights. From there, it continued eastward, producing sporadic tree damage, including several trees uprooted or snapped, before dissipating at Schildt Ln. The tornado had a path length of 0.35 miles and a max path width of 100 yards. No deaths or injuries were reported.

8. Jul 29, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused a large tree limb to snap and fall onto a vehicle.

9. Aug 19, 2002Lightning$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A lightning strike was responsible for a fire at a home east of Quincy. The lighting struck an enclosed porch on the south side of the house and quickly spread to the kitchen.

10. May 15, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorm winds blew the roof off a barn north of Payson.

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

112°FJul 14, 1954

All-time low

−22°FDec 22, 1989

Warmest night

83°FJul 15, 1980

Coldest day

−8°FJan 15, 1972

Wettest day

5.84 inJun 14, 1950

Snowiest day

10.9 inFeb 25, 1993

Hottest year

2012mean 56.7°F

Coldest year

1951mean 49.8°F

Wettest year

197366.60 in

Driest year

195320.00 in

Snowiest season

45.2 in1977-78

Station Quincy Regional Airport (USW00093989), 760 ft elevation, 6.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 99.8% 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 USW00093989.
• 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.