Rush County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Rush County: 3.
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.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 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. Jun 3, 2008Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down in Shelby County at 2004 EST 200 meters north of the County Road South 500 East and County Road East 500 South intersection. The tornado tracked to the east northeast for 2.93 miles before entering Rush County at 2012 EST near County Road South 1000 West just south of County Road East 450 South. The tornado continued to the northeast for 6.75 miles until lifting at 2030 EST. The tornado lifted 200 meters east of County Road South 400 West and 400 meters north of West State Road 244. The tornado was on the ground for a total of 9.68 miles and 26 minutes. The tornado was an EF-0 with wind speeds around 75 miles per hour while in Shelby County, however…

2. Sep 20, 2002Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado formed along a squall line. Two mobile homes and two barns were destroyed.

3. Mar 15, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused damage over 50 locations across Rush County with trees or powerlines down and at least two dozen structures damaged. Three people were injured north of Rushville where winds blew over a security trailer.

4. Jun 15, 2019Tornado$275,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The EF-2 rated tornado, with max wind speeds of 130 mph, began near the intersection of County Road 400 South and 550 West and tracked northeast. The worst damage was located just southwest of Rushville along County Road 300 South and Flatrock River Road. Two metal silos and a barn were destroyed at a property near the intersection and debris from these structures were twisted and carried one half to three quarters of a mile to the northeast. An extensive amount of trees were sheared and uprooted along Flatrock River Road.||Additional damage occurred to trailers parked at the Fraley and Schilling Trucking Company along State Route 3 just south of Rushville. The last area of…

5. Jun 19, 2021Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rapidly flowing water over State Road 244 in southern Rush county. A section of County Road 1000 South was washed out by flood waters.

6. Sep 21, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm downburst winds blew down trees through the town of Rushville and along the south side of town...damaging 6 homes, including partial roof damage to a building on the southwest side of Rushville. Winds continued to down trees and powerlines to the southeast side of Rushville.

7. Dec 22, 2004Heavy Snow, Rush$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several roof collapses were reported, including that of a building on the Rush County Fairgrounds.

8. Jun 8, 2022Tornado$185,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS survey confirmed EF1 tornado tracked from 4.75 miles east-southeast of Morristown to 3.4 miles north of Rushville. Tornado first caused damage around the intersection of County Roads West 200 North and North 900 West. Four homes sustained damage that consisted primarily of roof and siding taken off homes. South facing front porch roof taken off western most house. Clear convergent pattern was observed in this area with several large tree limbs down and a few smaller trees topped or uprooted. Sheet metal was thrown nearly a quarter mile east. A storage shed was lifted and moved 40 feet off of its foundation. Siding and roof loss occurred at 3 other homes at this location. The…

9. Mar 15, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines downed across a swath stretching from Manilla to near Arlington.

10. Apr 29, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Five power poles and a tree downed on 450 east. Nearby there was a swath of damage from 950 East to 700 East and from 1000 South to 900 South where 4 structures were damaged including one large utility barn.

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

108°FJul 22, 1901

All-time low

−31°FJan 17, 1994

Warmest night

77°F3 times, most recently Jul 8, 2012

Coldest day

−12°FJan 17, 1994

Wettest day

5.90 inFeb 18, 2022

Snowiest day

17.0 inDec 22, 2004

Hottest year

1944mean 55.4°F

Coldest year

1904mean 48.3°F

Wettest year

201159.38 in

Driest year

193422.56 in

Snowiest season

45.6 in1909-10

Station Rushville (USC00127646), 948 ft elevation, 1.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1901 to October 27, 2026; 94.6% 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 USC00127646.
• 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.