Mason County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Mason County: 1.
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. Apr 18, 2013Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hundreds of cabins and sheds in wildlife areas along the Illinois River were severely damaged. In addition, 25 homes and several other structures were damaged near Bath, Snicarte, Havana and Goofy Ridge. Nearly 15 miles of roads will need to be rebuilt due to the flooding. The river stage at Havana climbed to a record level of 27.78 feet on April 25th at 19:15 local time, which was nearly 14 feet above flood stage. High impact flooding continued into the month of May 2013.

2. Jun 1, 1999Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down 4.2 miles east northeast of Marbletown (Fulton Co.), knocking over several power poles. Then it crossed the river into Mason County 4.5 miles south southwest of Havana. It hit one home causing the roof to collapse and sent bricks from the home into several houses across the street. Numerous wood projectiles (2x4s and 2x8s) were blown into a garage and porch of another house. A wheelbarrow was blown into one of the windows of the house and the garage was moved several inches off its foundation. The roof and upper floor of the garage (2 story) sustained damage. As the tornado moved east numerous trees were blown down before the tornado lifted and dissipated 3…

3. Apr 15, 2011Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in a field about 6.5 miles west-southwest of Easton at 530 PM CDT. It knocked over an irrigation unit and damaged an outbuilding before traveling north and damaging several sheds, breaking windows, tearing roofing and siding off a house, and pushing a house a few inches off its foundation. One person was injured by flying glass. The tornado then damaged another outbuilding and several trees before dissipating 7 miles west-northwest of Easton at 538 PM CDT.

4. Jun 1, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   As a bow echo moved east across Mason County, numerous trees were blown down. Some of the trees caused minor structural damage. Also, a roof was lifted off of a house and an old drive-in movie screen was blown over. Five miles west of Manito, several power lines and trees were blown down in the Woodland Estates Subdivision. Several homes sustained minor damage from the fallen trees. A 60 mph wind gust was reported in Bath. Damage in Mason County due to the thunderstorm winds was estimated around $200,000.

5. Aug 28, 2008Lightning$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a house in the city of Havana setting the roof and attic ablaze. The residents of the house were able to flee uninjured. The house burned to the ground.

6. Mar 6, 2017Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down 2.2 miles north-northwest of Easton at 11:52 PM CST. The tornado tracked northeastward, hitting a homestead 2.5 miles north of Easton where a machine shed was severely damaged, with most of its roof removed and part of the north wall bowed out. From here to the end of the track, most of the damage was to power poles or overturned irrigation rigs: however, a farm along County Road 2930E received damage as well. A grain silo had half its peaked roof cave in, and part of a machine shed had a couple smaller wall pieces blown out. The tornado dissipated 5.5 miles southeast of Forest City at 11:57 PM CST.

7. Aug 12, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   As a line of severe thunderstorms moved through Mason County, numerous trees, tree limbs, and power lines were blown down. Also, thousands of acres of corn were laid down. At the intersection of Route 97 and the Bath blacktop, a tree was blown over onto a van trapping its occupants. They were freed by rescue crews and sustained no injuries. In the Sanganois conservation area, another car was trapped by a fallen tree, but there were no injuries. Damage to the crops was estimated around $12.3 million.

8. Feb 1, 2011Blizzard, Mason$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Weather observers across Mason County measured 10 to 16 inches of snow, with the total for Havana coming in at 16 inches. 45 to 55 mph winds accompanied the snow, reducing the visibility to near zero. As a result of the blizzard conditions, travel became nearly impossible across the area.

9. Dec 1, 2018Tornado$65,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down near the intersection of 1200N and 2250E about 4.9 miles west of Easton at 4:53 PM CST. The tornado uprooted some large trees, then progressed to the NE, causing damage to power poles and tipping over many irrigation systems before it dissipated near the intersection of 2100N and 3000E about 1.9 miles east-southeast of Forest City at 5:17 PM CST.

10. May 10, 2017Thunderstorm Wind$65,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Irrigation pivots were flipped and twisted. Numerous trees were blown down and a 50-60 foot tall pine tree was snapped.

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

105°FJun 25, 1988

All-time low

−25°FJan 17, 1977

Warmest night

79°F7 times, most recently Aug 25, 2023

Coldest day

−11°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

5.19 inJul 15, 2020

Snowiest day

12.2 inJan 13, 1979

Hottest year

2024mean 56.1°F

Coldest year

1979mean 48.1°F

Wettest year

199055.35 in

Driest year

198822.16 in

Snowiest season

57.6 in2013-14

Station General Wayne A Downing International A (USW00014842), 655 ft elevation, 28.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1943 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00014842.
• 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.