Henderson County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 8, 2003Hail$10.0 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. Apr 19, 1996Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   At least 2 tornados were responsible for damage to 15 homes, a barn, and many outbuildings. One farm lost one 50,000 bushel and three 2,000 bushel grain bins as well as $20-30,000 of irrigation equipment. Many large and old trees were also snapped off and dumped into the streets and across rural roads, which slowed traffic through the area.

3. Apr 19, 1996Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   At least 2 tornados were responsible for damage to 15 homes, a barn, and many outbuildings. One farm lost one 50,000 bushel and three 2,000 bushel grain bins as well as $20-30,000 of irrigation equipment. Many large and old trees were also snapped off and dumped into the streets and across rural roads, which slowed traffic through the area.

4. May 21, 2003Flood, Henderson$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…

5. May 4, 2003Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several rounds of thunderstorms struck Eastern Iowa, far Northeast Missouri, and Nothern Illinois from mid afternoon through midnight. A wake low developed behind one line of storms and produced an extended period of wind over 43 knots (50 mph) across parts of Eastern Iowa and Northwest Illinois resulting in power outages and tree limbs down. In Southeast Iowa and West Central Illinois, thunderstorms trained over the same area producing mainly nuisance flooding. In Henderson County Illinois, Illinois Route 94 and numerous other roads were closed due to high water.

6. Apr 18, 2011Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Water from snow-melt in the upper Midwest moved south through the Mississippi River basin causing major flooding along the Mississippi River.||The snowfall was well above normal for the 2010-11 winter in much of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Minneapolis, MN recorded 86.6 inches of snow, which is 30 inches above normal. Snowfall in eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois, and northeast Missouri totaled 35 to 65 inches, which was 10 to 20 inches above normal.||The snow-melt flood crest reached Dubuque on April 19 and was finally south of the Burlington area by April 25. The crest levels ranked 4th through 8th depending on the location, when compared to historical crests.||Bellevue surpassed its…

7. Apr 17, 2013Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several rounds of heavy rains fell across much of Henderson County from the afternoon of April 17 through the morning of April 18.

8. May 8, 2003Hail$250,000
   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…

9. Jun 22, 2010Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains during the third week of June resulted in the Mississippi River at Burlington going above the moderate flood stage level of 16.5 feet on June 22 around 230 pm. It crested around 16.95 feet around 1 pm June 26. It fell below the moderate flood stage level around 4 am June 28.

10. Jul 8, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Another MCS developed along old outflow boundaries from convection earlier in the day. A high moisture atmosphere allowed storms to produce very heavy rain in short time periods. Across Southeast Iowa and West Central Illinois a small bow echo developed that produced concentrated areas of damage. In Henderson County numerous trees were downed across U.S. 34 along with a semi overturned that closed the highway for about an hour while in Burlington, numerous trees and power lines were downed. While moving through Burlington, the Burlington ASOS at the airport south of town measured a gust of 42 knots (48 mph).

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

111°F2 times, most recently Jul 15, 1936

All-time low

−27°FFeb 13, 1905

Warmest night

84°FJul 27, 1936

Coldest day

−10°FFeb 3, 1996

Wettest day

6.28 inJun 29, 1933

Snowiest day

13.5 inJan 26, 1967

Hottest year

1998mean 57.3°F

Coldest year

1917mean 48.1°F

Wettest year

201054.13 in

Driest year

195622.87 in

Snowiest season

68.2 in1911-12

Station Burlington Municipal Airport (USW00014931), 683 ft elevation, 10.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1897 to October 26, 2026; 99.6% 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 USW00014931.
• 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.