Cherokee County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Cherokee County: 4.
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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 27, 2014Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A survey team determined an EF2 tornado struck the town of Baxter Springs, Kansas. The tornado started near Quapaw, Oklahoma and crossed the state line into Kansas then moved through the town of Baxter Springs producing a 150 yard wide swath of damage from southwest to northeast through the center of town. Emergency management reported approximately 90 homes and 11 business were destroyed and an additional seven businesses and 85 homes suffered damage. Approximately 25 injuries were reported but no fatalities. Maximum wind speeds were estimated to be between 120 and 130 mph.

2. Dec 9, 2007Ice Storm, Cherokee$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ice accumulations of up to two inches were observed over much of Cherokee County. The cities of Colubus, Baxter Springs, and Riverton were hit the hardest. Nearly 100% of the county lost power for several days, as widespread tree and power line damage occurred. The Sheriff Department's 300 foot tower located two miles north of Riverton collasped due to the weight of the ice.

3. Apr 28, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds of up to 73 kts (84 mph) blew through southern Cherokee county affecting the towns of Baxter Springs and Galena. The hardest hit was Baxter Springs where 75 percent of the homes and businesses sustained some damage. The majority of the damage was minor and confined to trees falling down on homes and cars and to sections of roofs blown off businesses.

4. May 8, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that damaging winds impacted nearly all of Cherokee County. Widespread damage occurred in the form of downed power poles, uprooted trees, damaged structures, and damaged crops. More specifically, there were several structures that experienced roof damage while windows were blown out of both homes and automobiles. A 1000 foot transmission tower was also knocked down that was built on top of the Cherokee County court house. The Columbus High School football facilities experienced significant damage. The press box was destroyed while several power poles that lit the field were snapped or blown down. One home near Crestline experienced…

5. May 4, 2003Tornado$2.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A classic supercell thunderstorm moved out of southern Labette County, Kansas and into southwest Cherokee County, Kansas. Intermittent, brief tornado touch downs were observed from storm spotters in rural sections of southeast Labette County, however, the storm eventually produced a long lived tornado that initially touched down north of Melrose. This feature then progressed through rural areas of central and east central Cherokee County. This large and destructive tornado is accountable for 19 injuries and three fatalities, before moving into Jasper County, Missouri. Julie Green age 50, was eating supper in her home a few miles southeast of Columbus when the tornado struck. She…

6. Jun 12, 2007Flash Flood$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Another stationary band of heavy rain occurred on the night of June 11th and the morning of June 12th. In response, significant flooding occurred in all areas of the county. The Spring and Neosho rivers remained flooded, causing damage to homes and several road systems.

7. Apr 26, 2026Tornado$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service storm survey determined that an EF1 Tornado with estimated wind speeds of 105 mph touched down near the northeast portion of Hallowell before tracking 4.37 miles to the east. The tornado uprooted or snapped several trees, overturned several empty railcars, caused significant damaged to several grain bins, destroyed multiple outbuildings and snapped or broke numerous power poles and downed power lines. The tornado track ended approximately 1.25 miles east of Sherwin.

8. Jun 10, 2007Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Spring River along with smaller non-stem river and creek systems experienced major flooding across the entire county. Approximately 50 homes were flooded along the Spring River. Many of the homes that were flooded are located from Baxter Springs to Riverton. Across the western section of Cherokee County, the Neosho River along with its smaller tributaries experienced major flooding. Numerous roads and bridges in these areas were washed out or destroyed.

9. Dec 28, 2015Flood$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were numerous low water crossings and rural roads that were flooded. Several homes and businesses were flooded. There was significant to extreme flooding along Shoal Creek and the Spring River around Galena to Baxter Spring's. This storm report will contain the damage estimates for the entire county for this event.

10. Dec 28, 2015Flood$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Highway 166 and Highway 400 was closed due to flooding of the Spring River. Several roads and low water crossings were damaged from flood water.

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

115°FJul 14, 1954

All-time low

−15°F3 times, most recently Feb 16, 2021

Warmest night

85°F2 times, most recently Jul 17, 1954

Coldest day

−1°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

7.12 inSep 30, 1986

Snowiest day

20.0 inMar 16, 1970

Hottest year

2012mean 61.5°F

Coldest year

1976mean 54.9°F

Wettest year

198565.25 in

Driest year

196318.35 in

Station Joplin Regional Airport (USW00013987), 972 ft elevation, 14.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 99.7% 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 USW00013987.
• 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.