Scott County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Scott 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. Jul 19, 2015Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several rounds of slow moving thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall amounts of 3.00 to 7.00 inches of rain in Scott County during the early morning of July 19th. This area was already saturated from flooding which occurred one week prior. Thus, flash flooding quickly developed which flooded most rural roads in the county. In addition, roads were washed out and mudslides were reported from Winchester through Naples to Bluffs.

2. Jun 10, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several trees and tree limbs were blown down in Winchester. In addition, 15 large power poles were snapped, resulting in a widespread power outage.

3. Apr 8, 1999Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   As the tornado crossed the Illinois River from Pike County into Scott County, it caused extensive damage to a residence next to a pump house located near the river, 5 miles southwest of Oxville. The windows on the west side of the house were blown out and the east wall was blown out as well. Shortly after hitting the home the tornado lifted and dissipated. No injuries were reported and the damage was estimated around $150,000.

4. Apr 8, 1999Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado developed 0.3 of a mile north northwest of Oxville. It took the roof off of a trailer then continued to the northeast. One mile northeast of Oxville, it destroyed a barn and three grain bins. It destroyed numerous trees and caused damage to several barns and silos before lifting and dissipating 3 miles southeast of Bluffs. No injuries were reported and damage was estimated around $100,000.

5. Dec 8, 2007Ice Storm, Scott$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant icing was reported in Scott county. Around 2,000 homes and businesses were without power due to downed power lines. Numerous trees were damaged from the coating of ice. One home was damaged when a large tree limb fell through the roof.

6. Jun 19, 2011Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A levee on the Mauvaise Terre Creek near Oxville broke in three places due to rapid streamflow from flooding upstream in Morgan County, and renewed heavy rain. The resulting flooding inundated State Route 100 north of I-72, covered nearly 2,000 acres of crops with water, and closed roads in and out of Oxville. ||An 84 year old woman drove her car into the flood waters of the Mauvaise Terre Creek just before the levees failed. She was rescued and uninjured, but her car was damaged.

7. Jun 3, 2008Hail$85,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail to golf ball size caused damage to the Alsey Brick Factory. Numerous vehicles and homes also sustained hail damage.

8. Aug 19, 2009Tornado$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado first touched down in the National Weather Service St. Louis County Warning Area (CWA) in Greene County about 3.5 miles southeast of Alsey at 110 PM CST. The tornado crossed into Scott County at 114 PM CST, then continued northeastward and crossed into Morgan County at 123 PM CST, eventually lifting in western Morgan County 3.5 miles southwest of Franklin at 135 PM CST. Severe damage occurred to a mobile home north of Manchester and widespread tree and crop damage occurred along the path of the tornado. The total length of the tornado from Greene County across Scott and Morgan counties was 18 miles.

9. Apr 19, 2011Hail$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large quantity of quarter-sized hail occurred, producing damage to vehicles in Bluffs.

10. Dec 27, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$55,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Power lines were blown down and six to eight houses sustained wind damage. Numerous trees and tree branches were blown down as well.

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

113°F2 times, most recently Jul 24, 1934

All-time low

−26°FJan 7, 1912

Warmest night

87°FJul 3, 1983

Coldest day

−7°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

5.60 inDec 3, 1982

Snowiest day

14.0 inMar 19, 1906

Hottest year

1921mean 58.6°F

Coldest year

2014mean 49.9°F

Wettest year

201561.15 in

Driest year

195320.31 in

Snowiest season

39.0 in1959-60

Station White Hall 1 E (USC00119241), 580 ft elevation, 14.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 96.9% 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 USC00119241.
• 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.