Crawford County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. May 4, 2003Tornado$7.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This storm is known to have initiated the unforgettable series of events of 4 May, 2003. This classic supercell rapidly developed over Montgomery County, Kansas, eventually moving into southwestern Crawford County, Kansas where it spawned a very large and destructive tornado. This tornado laid out a path of destruction for 27 miles of farm land and small communities through Crawford County. This event also claimed three lives and injured 20 in eastern sections of the county, where the tornado had strengthened to F-4 status. The tornado continued on the ground into Barton County, Missouri.Sharon Lasbrook age 48, was deceased from being thrown out of her mobile home and into a…

2. May 8, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damaging wind gusts occurred across much of the southern half of Crawford County. Damage occurred to numerous structures, trees, power poles, and crops. The most concentrated damage occurred at Southeast High School where the roof of the gymnasium was torn off. The baseball, softball, and football fields all experienced damage as well. In the town of Cherokee, 130 structures were damaged altogether. In McCune, 63 structures were damaged, as well as six vehicles and two grain elevators at the Co-Op.

3. Jan 30, 2002Ice Storm, Crawford$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large scale ice storm event developed over southeast Kansas and west central Missouri during the early morning hours of January 30, 2002. Synoptically, a shallow arctic air mass moved through the region dropping surface temperatures in the upper 20s. Strong jet stream winds from the southwest provided the influx of sub-tropical type regime. In addition, deep moisture from the Gulf of Mexico surged northward above this shallow air mass to set the stage for a prolonged ice storm. Light to moderate rainfall fell over the sub-freezing surface temperatures for nearly 36 hours. Ice begun accumulating on trees and power lines from southeast Kansas into west central Missouri Wednesday…

4. Nov 30, 2006Winter Storm, Crawford$1.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major winter storm caused a combination of freezing rain, sleet, and heavy snow to fall over sections of extreme southeast Kansas. The frozen precipitation began on the 30th of November and continued into the overnight and early morning hours of December 1st. During much of the day on November 30th, the precipitation type was freezing rain and sleet, with ice accumulations up to four inches in some areas. The second wave of precipitation occurred overnight causing large amounts of snow to accumulate over the ice. Storm total accumulations ranging from seven to 12 inches occurred over all three counties.|The combination of the ice and snow weighted down all exposed objects. As a…

5. May 20, 2019Tornado$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service storm survey determined that an EF-1 tornado with maximum winds of 105 mph traveled along a 6 mile path before entering Barton County Missouri. The tornado continue for a total of 10 miles before lifting SE of Mindenmines, Missouri. This was the second tornado from a supercell that also produced the Weir tornado. This tornado touched down south of Pittsburg near the intersection of E 50th and S 220th Streets where it uprooted trees and destroyed an outbuilding. The tornado continued and additionally damaged several more outbuildings and numerous homes south of the Pittsburg Mall. There were varying degrees of damage as as the storm tracked across E…

6. Dec 9, 2007Ice Storm, Crawford$700,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Intermittent periods of freezing rain from the morning of 9 December to around noon on 10 December caused ice accumulations up to an inch over Crawford County. The south and east sections of the county acquired the most ice, while north and west sections only accumulated around one quarter to one half inch. South and east sections of the county experiences a few power outages.

7. Feb 28, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service storm survey determined that straight-line winds of 100 to 120 miles per hour occurred near Pittsburg. This created a one mile path of damage from Centennial Drive and Highway 160 to the northeast across the southern portions of Pittsburg. Numerous tress and power poles were damages or snapped off near the base. The concrete roof of the George Nettle Elementary School Gym was lifted and shifted. Several buildings reveived damage including loss of shingles and other structural damage. Two motels also received significant damage along with several out buildings.

8. Aug 1, 2012Drought, Crawford$316,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The U.S Drought Monitor continued to report Extreme Drought (D3) to Exceptional Drought (D4) throughout the month of August. The region started to see some rainfall by the end of August. The COOP station near Walnut reported 4.49 of rainfall for the month of August. This is a continuation of the drought that began across the region in June. As a result of the drought conditions combined with the excessive heat, the county USDA office determined that the county incurred a near 75 percent crop loss compared to the previous several years. Monetary crop loss figures are estimates using information from the National Agricultural Statistics database, local FSA and USDA offices and other…

9. Apr 19, 2000Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An F2 tornado entered the southwest corner of Crawford County west of McCune and traveled northeast over the southwest section of the county. The intermittent damage path was 300 yards wide. Although the tornado stayed over rural areas, it still managed to severely damage or destroy 5 homes and several outbuildings. Four persons were injured by flying debris. The tornado lifted about 6 miles northeast of McCune.

10. Jun 30, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An intense bow echo storm entered Crawford County northwest of Mc Cune and swept across southern sections of the county. 80 mph winds damaged several structures including homes and barns. Two Crawford County residents were inside a mobile home when the storm approached. The home was destroyed and the two individuals were injured. A woman survived the storm after she was scalped by flying debris

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

110°F2 times, most recently Jul 13, 1980

All-time low

−18°F2 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Warmest night

82°FJul 4, 1979

Coldest day

−1°FDec 25, 1983

Wettest day

9.32 inSep 24, 1993

Snowiest day

15.0 inMar 17, 1970

Hottest year

2012mean 60.7°F

Coldest year

1989mean 54.5°F

Wettest year

201970.75 in

Driest year

198020.36 in

Snowiest season

27.8 in2002-03

Station Girard (USC00143074), 990 ft elevation, 7.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1957 to October 27, 2026; 98.5% 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 USC00143074.
• 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.