Lawrence County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Lawrence 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. Jun 8, 2008Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall caused record flooding on the Embarras River at Lawrenceville. The river reached a level of 42.3 feet at 2325 CST on 6/9. This resulted in the breach of at least 4 levees on the Embarras and Wabash Rivers which produced widespread flooding in eastern Lawrence County. In the town of Lawrenceville, 158 homes had water in the first floor living area, while 48 others reported water in the basement. In addition, 8 businesses had in excess of 5 feet of water. Lawrence County was declared a disaster area due to the flooding.

2. Mar 8, 2009Tornado$305,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado initially touched down 1 mile northeast of the Lawrenceville Airport, then tracked northeastward to 1 mile southeast of Russellville at the Wabash River. The tornado then crossed the Wabash River into Knox County Indiana. Twenty irrigation units were destroyed along the path of the tornado. Numerous grain bins, machine sheds and pole barns were severely damaged as well. In addition, one home experienced moderate damage. One man sustained minor injuries from flying debris.

3. May 8, 1996Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Slow moving thunderstorms dumped between 3 and 4 inches of rain over the extreme northern portions of Lawrence county. The heavy rains caused flash flooding conditions in the town of Birds when a nearby creek, Brushy Creek) got out of its banks. This forced the evacuation of 213 of the town's 215 people. One woman had to be rescued when the car she was trying to move out of harms way was pushed down stream from her home. The car hit a bridge abutment and she had to be pulled out of the passengers' side window. No injuries were reported, but property damage was extensive. There was $250,000 in road and bridge damage, though no estimate of private property damage was available yet.

4. May 9, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A swath of wind damage extended from west to east across Sumner. Numerous trees, power lines, and power poles were blown down in an area about 3 blocks wide and 10 blocks long. No significant structural damage occurred and no injuries were reported.

5. Apr 28, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were blown down from Sumner to Lawrenceville between 4:45 PM CDT and 5:15 PM CDT. A few trees were blown onto homes and vehicles in Lawrenceville.

6. May 31, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across Lawrenceville.

7. Nov 14, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large tree was blown down onto power lines...taking down a half mile stretch of lines.

8. May 7, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines were blown down in Lawrenceville.

9. Jun 15, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees, tree limbs, and power lines were blown down in and around Chauncey and Sumner. Several of the trees and tree limbs fell onto homes. In addition, shingles were blown off some homes in Chauncey and a 60 foot emergency communication tower was torn off the fire department building in Sumner.

10. Jul 23, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across Lawrenceville.

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°FJun 28, 2012

All-time low

−14°FJan 28, 2026

Warmest night

80°F2 times, most recently Jul 24, 2012

Coldest day

4°FJan 6, 2014

Wettest day

4.72 inSep 8, 2018

Hottest year

2024mean 59.0°F

Coldest year

2014mean 53.0°F

Wettest year

201355.26 in

Driest year

199925.31 in

Station Lawrenceville Vincennes International A (USW00013809), 427 ft elevation, 8.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1996 to October 26, 2026; 98.1% 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 USW00013809.
• 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.