Putnam County

Every recorded tornado

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

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), USGS Conterminous (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. Apr 20, 2004Tornado$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The low topped supercell that produced 2 earlier tornadoes in Stark and Marshall/Bureau counties continued to be a cyclic tornado producer. The deadliest and longest lived tornado started at 1644 CST, 0.7 miles North Northeast of Florid in Putnam County and moved northeast toward Granville. The long lived nature of the tornado was due to it riding along a warm front pushing through Putnam and La Salle counties. Satellite imagery indicated a strengthening mesocyclone at 1625 CST (2225 Z) with the formation of a new line of feeder clouds into the supercell, and KDVN 88D velocity data showed a strengthening TVS signature by 1635 CST (2235 Z). Witnesses reported a multiple vortex…

2. Apr 30, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Supercell thunderstorms developed in the afternoon and evening north of a warm front that ran from Southern Iowa into Central Illinois. Three distinct supercells produced a majority of the wind, hail, and heavy rain reports from Jefferson County Iowa into Henry County Illinois. Mercer County Illinois was under tornado warnings on a continuous basis for 2 hours. Officials at a high school track meet in Aledo, Illinois ushered all students into the safety of the school resulting in no injuries. The training of the supercells from Louisa County Iowa to Henry County Illinois dumped heavy rain over the Edwards River and Pope Creek basins in Illinois with radar estimating 9 inches of…

3. Apr 30, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Supercell thunderstorms developed in the afternoon and evening north of a warm front that ran from Southern Iowa into Central Illinois. Three distinct supercells produced a majority of the wind, hail, and heavy rain reports from Jefferson County Iowa into Henry County Illinois. Mercer County Illinois was under tornado warnings on a continuous basis for 2 hours. Officials at a high school track meet in Aledo, Illinois ushered all students into the safety of the school resulting in no injuries. The training of the supercells from Louisa County Iowa to Henry County Illinois dumped heavy rain over the Edwards River and Pope Creek basins in Illinois with radar estimating 9 inches of…

4. Jun 5, 2010Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Between approximately 810 pm and 835 pm on June 5, an EF2 tornado moved across areas from about 2.75 miles east northeast of Henry, IL, through Magnolia, IL, into western La Salle County about 3 miles east of Magnolia, IL. Wind speeds were estimated to be 135 mph. The tornado touched down at the shore of Sawmill Lake with a width of about 0.5 miles. Numerous trees were snapped off and shredded, laying in scattered directions. Extensive tree damage and some structural damage was observed toward Taylor Rd. Along County Road 150 N and Highway 18 west of Magnolia, several farm outbuildings including a large barn and steel shed were destroyed. A 400 to 450 foot tall cell phone tower…

5. Apr 30, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Supercell thunderstorms developed in the afternoon and evening north of a warm front that ran from Southern Iowa into Central Illinois. Three distinct supercells produced a majority of the wind, hail, and heavy rain reports from Jefferson County Iowa into Henry County Illinois. Mercer County Illinois was under tornado warnings on a continuous basis for 2 hours. Officials at a high school track meet in Aledo, Illinois ushered all students into the safety of the school resulting in no injuries. The training of the supercells from Louisa County Iowa to Henry County Illinois dumped heavy rain over the Edwards River and Pope Creek basins in Illinois with radar estimating 9 inches of…

6. Apr 6, 1997High Wind, Putnam$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong gradient winds howled across the area during the morning and early afternoon hours. Widespread and significant damage was done to trees and power lines. Isolated roof and other structural damage also occurred along with several reports of semi-trucks being blow off the roads.One Quad City roofer was quoted as saying: "I've been a roofer for 27 years and I've never experienced anything like this." Reports indicated damage was mostly done to new roofs whose shingles had not completely sealed. The high winds also contributed to the spread of two grassland fires near Savana in Carroll county Illinois. The first fire spread to a horse barn destroying it, with some animals…

7. Dec 11, 2007Ice Storm, Putnam$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large area of freezing rain fell across the region on December 10-11, 2007. This precipitation occurred on the cold side of a stationary frontal boundary that extended from the southern Plains to the lower Ohio Valley. Ice accumulations were in the 1/4 to 1 inch range, with snow and sleet mixed with the freezing rain in some areas. The ice knocked down some trees and branches, with scattered power outages reported. Temperatures gradually rose above freezing the morning of December 11 from I-80 southward, melting the ice. In addition, most counties were declared either a state or federal disaster area.

8. Jul 12, 2008Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Torrential rains eroded several roads south and west of McNabb, IL and in the vicinity of Florid, IL during the morning of July 12.

9. May 31, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Mesoanalysis during the early morning depicted an outflow boundary extending from Central Illinois into Central Iowa with a cold front extending from Northeast Iowa into Eastern Nebraska, intersecting the outflow interface near Des Moines. An elevated bow MCS (Mesoscale Convective System) developed between Mason City, Iowa and Marshalltown, Iowa, and raced eastward through Eastern Iowa and into Northwest and North Central Illinois during the early afternoon. The system, although weakening, still managed to produce several reports of high winds and heavy rain. Winds were estimated at 65 mph in a few areas, knocking down large trees and limbs. Strong straight line winds destroyed a…

10. Oct 29, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The same storm that produced a downburst 10 minutes earlier produced another around the town of Standard, Illinois. Numerous trees and powerlines were downed with a brand new 20x16 shed destroyed. The debris from the shed was scattered up to 400 yards away. The sheriff stated that the strongest winds only lasted 20 to 30 seconds.

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°F2 times, most recently Jul 14, 1936

All-time low

−26°F2 times, most recently Jan 30, 2019

Warmest night

81°FJul 18, 1942

Coldest day

−11°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

8.77 inJul 14, 1958

Snowiest day

14.0 inJan 23, 1898

Hottest year

1922mean 54.9°F

Coldest year

2014mean 47.0°F

Wettest year

190255.45 in

Driest year

195622.06 in

Snowiest season

72.6 in1925-26

Station Ottawa 4SW (USC00116526), 545 ft elevation, 19.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1892 to October 27, 2026; 97.2% 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 USC00116526.
• 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.