Anderson County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Jan 4, 2005Winter Storm, Anderson$6.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A widespread severe winter storm overspread northcentral, northeast and eastcentral Kansas during the morning and afternoon hours of January 4, 2005. Freezing rain began about 10 AM over central Kansas and spread east and north during the afternoon, reaching the Missouri and Nebraska borders by about 4-5PM. Significant and heavy icing began to occur during the afternoon hours. The freezing rain changed to or mixed with sleet along and north of Interstate 70 during the evening of the 4th, and to heavy snow along highway 36 from Belleville to Hiawatha, also during the evening. The freezing rain was heaviest and caused the most tree and property damage generally along and north of…

2. Apr 11, 2001High Wind, Anderson$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds associated with an intense low pressure system reached speeds over 80 mph at times and did extensive damage over the area that was estimated in the millions of dollars. Most of the damage occurred to homes, power lines and businesses. Near Ottawa the winds blew the roofs off of 2 barns and destroyed several farm sheds. Also near Ottawa a barn was blown onto highway 68 as winds of 85 mph were recorded at the Ottawa airport. Traffic lights were blown down in Topeka. Windows were blown out of many homes across the area. Large trees were severely damaged and vehicles were overturned on area roads. Three semi tractor trailers were overturned on Interstate 70 between Topeka…

3. May 8, 2003Tornado$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado formed 5 miles southeast of Colony and traveled a 15 mile path northeast before entering Linn county and dissipating. While in Anderson county the tornado injured 3 people, destroyed 7 homes and seriously damaged 2 others.

4. Jan 29, 2002Winter Storm, Anderson$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major winter storm struck all of north central...northeast and east central Kansas in late January. Freezing rain mixed at times with sleet occurred across east central Kansas from the early evening of January 29 into the morning of January 31. The freezing rain accumulated as much as an inch and a half of glaze which caused considerable power line and tree damage. Many residents remained without power well into February. Several buildings collapsed under the weight of the ice doing considerable damage to the contents. A boat marina at Lake Perry collapsed under the weight of the ice and damaged or destroyed 19 boats. Northeast Kansas received mostly snow from the night of the…

5. Jun 28, 2007Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   With persistent heavy rain and thunderstorms, Pottawatomie Creek reaches moderate flooding and continues to rise to record levels. Heavy rains continue intermittently for the rest of the month with widespread flooding developing. Flooding becomes more prevalent around Garnett and Colony by sunrise on the 30th with major streets and highways becoming impassable. By that evening...water rescues and emergency airlifts are being performed and all roads are closed going into Anderson County. Flooding continues into July.

6. Jul 1, 2007Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread flooding continues into early July. Numerous roads are still under water from heavy rain in late June. A state report said eight houses in the county received minor damage and another nine were affected by the flooding.

7. Nov 1, 1998Flash Flood$400,000
8. Mar 3, 2004Flood, Anderson$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain of three to four inches over several days produced areas of flooding. Many farm fields had standing water on them. Some rivers and streams temporarily flooded and excess runoff closed many roads for a time. Some roads and bridges were washed out or damaged. Two people were rescued from a vehicle that was swept off a road near Emporia.

9. May 7, 2007Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Persistent heavy rain through the predawn and early forenoon hours brought flooding of streets and creeks in and around Garnett. Unofficial estimates of three to four inches of rain were received during this time. One water rescue was made of a motorist swept away by high water. Some rural roads and small bridges were also flooded.

10. Jun 29, 2007Flash Flood$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Two feet of water over the intersection of 600 road and Arkansas. Roadway was deemed impassible by local law enforcement. Numerous gravel roads under water southwest portion of Anderson county. Some areas one foot deep. 6.5 inches of rain measured in 30 hours. Every unpaved road has water running over them.

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

116°FJul 14, 1954

All-time low

−23°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

89°FJul 16, 1910

Coldest day

−3°F3 times, most recently Jan 15, 2024

Wettest day

6.87 inAug 17, 1996

Snowiest day

18.0 inMar 24, 1912

Hottest year

1954mean 59.4°F

Coldest year

2014mean 52.8°F

Wettest year

199859.83 in

Driest year

193619.78 in

Snowiest season

48.0 in1911-12

Station Garnett 1 E (USC00143008), 998 ft elevation, 3.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1906 to October 21, 2026; 91.1% 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 USC00143008.
• 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.