Newton County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Newton County: 2.
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.

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. Sep 15, 2008Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extensive flooding closed roads and inundated large areas near the river. A levee break caused extensive flooding of homes in Sumava Resorts.

2. Jan 8, 2008Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   All county roads south of SR 114 were closed due to flooding. The south end of Goodland was evacuated due to high water. A bridge was damaged by flood waters on 1100 South near 550 East. Several roads had damage to the pavement and shoulders. Kentland measured 3.96 inches of rainfall.

3. Feb 4, 2008Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flooding was reported across Newton County with many roads flooded and impassible. Morocco measured 2.55 inches of rainfall, Kentland measured 2.44 inches and Lake Village measured 2.37 inches.

4. Nov 17, 2013Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down in Goodland causing several large grain bins to cave in on themselves with some of the surrounding scaffolding collapsing. This portion of the storm was consistent with high-end EF-0 damage with estimated winds to 85 mph. The tornado continued into Jasper County around 1:29 PM CST where it further intensified to EF-1.

5. Jul 13, 2010Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a barn and fire destroyed it.

6. Apr 8, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   One building completely leveled by straight line winds.

7. Jun 30, 2014Tornado$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado started near Colfax St. and tracked through the south side of Shelby, through DeMotte, and ended slightly east of N. 600W Rd. A large barn was completely destroyed, and damage was done to houses in both Shelby and DeMotte. In addition, numerous hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted. Maximum winds were estimated to 110 mph.

8. May 25, 2011Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 10 to 15 yard swath of corn/stubble was strewn across the lawn between a mildly damaged house and shed. A 100 to 150 pound auger was lifted from the shed and tossed 100 to 150 yards. A grain bin in the main wind core was picked up and tossed about 200 yards. Gouge marks were left in sod from the debris which consisted of 2x4 projectiles from the shed. Large trees were also snapped. Just before the tornado lifted, it snapped 10 utility poles, some near ground level.

9. May 25, 2011Tornado$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snapped tree limbs and a collapsed barn were observed along the short path of this tornado.

10. Aug 2, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Large tree limbs were blown down and a trailer home was pushed off its foundation.

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

104°FAug 18, 1988

All-time low

−25°F2 times, most recently Jan 21, 1985

Warmest night

79°FJul 13, 1995

Coldest day

−13°FJan 18, 1994

Wettest day

4.80 inJul 6, 1994

Snowiest day

11.1 inFeb 14, 2007

Hottest year

1998mean 53.9°F

Coldest year

1982mean 48.2°F

Wettest year

199052.80 in

Driest year

198829.43 in

Snowiest season

62.0 in2013-14

Station Rensselaer Wwtp (USC00127298), 658 ft elevation, 11.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1970 to October 27, 2026; 99.1% 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 USC00127298.
• 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.