Wayne County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Wayne 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 21, 2002Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado entered Wayne County about a half mile north of Illinois Route 15, then proceeded to move northeast to a point about 1.5 miles north of Wayne City. The tornado then paralleled Route 15 just north of Sims. The tornado continued moving east toward Fairfield, and passed through the southern part of Fairfield with F-3 intensity winds. The tornado then travelled slightly south of east toward Golden Gate. The tornado weakened east of Golden Gate and finally dissipated in extreme eastern Wayne County near Ellery. The sole fatality occurred 4 miles west of Wayne City, when a 47-year-old man was killed inside his mobile home. Of the 42 hospital-treated injuries, 13 were…

2. May 3, 1996Hail$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Baseball size hail damaged almost every structure in Cisne. Hail went through the decking of an old garage in Cisne. Thousands of vehicles were dented.

3. Apr 2, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind damage was widespread in and around Fairfield. The most severe damage was in the Fairfield Municipal Airport area, where a crop-dusting company's hangar collapsed onto three airplanes. Metal from the building blew across a highway and wrapped around a stop sign. A metal storage building across from the hangar was destroyed. Just north of the hangar, the roof was partially peeled off an auto body shop, and a corner of a residential garage was damaged by flying debris. A mobile home was shifted off its foundation about a half mile north of the airport. Metal debris was tangled in power lines near the airport. The roof was peeled off an agribusiness about two to three miles…

4. Jan 26, 2009Winter Storm, Wayne$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A prolonged, major winter storm dumped 6 to 10 inches of sleet and snow north of a line from East Cape Girardeau through Vienna to the confluence of the Wabash and Ohio Rivers. This resulted in at least two dozen roof collapses and very difficult driving conditions. South of that line, at least one inch of ice accumulated, with locally around 1.5 inches of ice. This resulted in a federal disaster declaration due to widespread tree damage and power outages. Virtually 100 percent of Massac County in the southern tip of the state was without power. The vast majority of nearby Alexander, Pulaski, Pope, Hardin, and southern Johnson Counties lost power. A major 161,000 volt transmission…

5. Apr 19, 2011Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One house was destroyed, with part of the roof removed and separation of some walls. A machine shed and several grain bins were destroyed. About a dozen power poles were snapped. Dozens of trees were snapped or uprooted. A tank was blown about 150 yards. An outbuilding was blown across Route 15. The average path width was 100 yards. Peak winds were estimated near 120 mph.

6. Jul 29, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Nearly all of the damage was in the south and west parts of Wayne City. There were dozens of trees and large tree branches down, several of which landed on homes and cars. Some light structure damage occurred to a mobile home. A large tree fell onto a barn. Roofing from an open, lean-to style machine shed was torn off. Power poles and lines were down.

7. Apr 19, 1996Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Total damage was estimated around 3 million dollars. The tornado destroyed 3 homes and caused moderate to severe damage to 50 others. About 45 barns and outbuildings were damaged or destroyed, along with 60 to 70 grain bins. The small community of Piopolis was nearly devastated. The intensity of the tornado was just weak (F0 or F1) during most of its life, but it briefly reached F3 intensity.

8. Nov 17, 2013Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado touched down on the southwest side of Sims. It quickly intensified and destroyed a double wide mobile home on the northeast side of Sims. The tornado continued northeast and crossed Highway 15, producing tree and power pole damage. The tornado moved east across the Wayne County landfill, damaging the building on the grounds. The tornado continued into the north side of Fairfield, producing mainly minor damage to homes. Peak winds in this tornado were estimated near 135 mph. The maximum intensity was on the northeast side of Sims.

9. Aug 15, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roofs were damaged, and numerous trees were blown down by very strong thunderstorm winds. The wind damage was primarily from the east side of Fairfield eastward along Route 15. The entire roof was blown off a residence, and another residence was partially unroofed. The unroofed home sustained heavy water damage. Part of the roof of a church was torn off. A few very large pine trees were uprooted. At least a few of the downed trees landed on houses and vehicles. Three small telephone poles were blown down. A cornfield was flattened.

10. Jan 29, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$120,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Roofs were blown off homes and other buildings in and around Fairfield. A roof was blown off of a house along U.S. Highway 45 just south of town. U.S. Highway 45 was closed between Interstate 64 and Fairfield after trees blew across the highway. A 60-foot tall concrete silo was blown over, and several large grain bins were destroyed. Temperatures dropped 26 degrees in less than 30 minutes at the Fairfield airport.

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°FJul 22, 1901

All-time low

−23°F2 times, most recently Jan 19, 1994

Warmest night

84°FJul 15, 1936

Coldest day

−5°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

6.76 inMay 8, 1961

Snowiest day

12.0 inFeb 26, 1906

Hottest year

1921mean 60.2°F

Coldest year

1978mean 53.1°F

Wettest year

201968.81 in

Driest year

190128.31 in

Snowiest season

39.8 in1911-12

Station 1 Ene Fairfield (USC00112931), 462 ft elevation, 4.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1896 to October 27, 2026; 96.4% 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 USC00112931.
• 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.