Mitchell County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Mitchell County: 0.
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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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 18, 2025Hail$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail up to two inches in diameter was reported with this round of storms.

2. Oct 2, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant home damage was reported in this area. Approximately another mile and a half east, a farm Quonset was destroyed. The sheriff estimated that winds were at least 90 mph.

3. Oct 2, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind speeds at this stage of the storm were estimated at 60 mph. At 635 am CDT, law enforcement reported that windows were broken from wind-driven hail on the south side of homes about 3 to 8 miles south of Beloit. These homes were located approximately from near Road L to Road P, just east of Highway 14. At 640 am CDT, a trained spotter reported golf ball size hail along with estimated 60 mph wind gusts, 5 miles south of Beloit.

4. Apr 24, 2008Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado sat down north of Beloit near highway 14 and traveled eastward. Several homes, farmsteads, outbuildings and trees were damaged along the tornadoes path. For the first 4 miles of the damage path, the tornado was rated at EF2 with EF0 damage seen through the rest of the county. The tornado exited Mitchell County northeast of Scottsville and entered Cloud County.

5. Oct 2, 2014Hail$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 640 am CDT, law enforcement reported that there were fields with destroyed crops due to the combination of golf ball size hail and strong wind. These fields were on both the north and south sides of Highway 24 from Roads 350 to 380. At 651 am CDT, Law enforcement reported that golf ball size hail was covering Highway 24. A semi-truck slid off the road and overturned at the intersection of Highway 24 and Road 380 due to the copious amount of hail on the road.

6. Jun 29, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms hit Mitchell County a couple of times on the night of June 29. The first round pounded the Simpson area with 80 mph winds. Large trees were toppled throughout town. Metal sheds were also reported to have been damaged or destroyed in town along with numerous power poles snapped. Later that evening, shortly before midnight, a tornado was spotted in southern Mitchell County. The tornado had a short one mile path, but caused considerable tree damage, damaged a wind mill and three metal sheds. Golf ball size hail was also reported in the county.

7. Oct 2, 2014Hail$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 635 am CDT, law enforcement reported that windows were broken from wind-driven hail on the south side of homes about 3 to 8 miles south of Beloit. These homes were located approximately from near Road L to Road P, just east of Highway 14. At 640 am CDT, a trained spotter reported golf ball size hail along with estimated 60 mph wind gusts, 5 miles south of Beloit.

8. May 29, 2008Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado started near Glen Elder Dam in Mitchell County and moved northeast. It crossed into Jewell County about 4 miles west of Highway 14. Eye witness accounts stated that this tornado combined near the dam with a tornado that had formed to the southwest in Osborne County. Just to the east of the dam, the tornado damaged several outbuildings at a farmstead and uprooted many trees. Power lines and trees were snapped off when the twister crossed US Highway 24 to the east of the town of Glen Elder. Large power poles were broken and another farmstead sustained extensive damage just before the tornado moved into Jewell County.

9. Sep 10, 2003Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms produced large hail, high winds and torrential rainfall across north-central Kansas. The extremely heavy rain resulted in widespread flooding across Mitchell county. Before the flooding began, the complex of thunderstorms had a history of producing winds in excess of 60 mph and hail to the size of golf balls. The largest hail was reported near Damar and Stockton in Rooks county, and around Webber in Jewell county. Winds of 60 to 80 mph were also reported and caused damage from Smith Center to Glen Elder. In Smith Center, a roof was torn from a church by the high wind while windows were blown out of a downtown business. Large tree limbs were reported down in…

10. Sep 11, 2003Flood, Mitchell$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Severe thunderstorms produced large hail, high winds and torrential rainfall across north-central Kansas. The extremely heavy rain resulted in widespread flooding across Mitchell county. Before the flooding began, the complex of thunderstorms had a history of producing winds in excess of 60 mph and hail to the size of golf balls. The largest hail was reported near Damar and Stockton in Rooks county, and around Webber in Jewell county. Winds of 60 to 80 mph were also reported and caused damage from Smith Center to Glen Elder. In Smith Center, a roof was torn from a church by the high wind while windows were blown out of a downtown business. Large tree limbs were reported down in…

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

113°F5 times, most recently Jul 6, 1964

All-time low

−27°FJan 8, 1913

Warmest night

87°FJul 25, 1897

Coldest day

−7°F2 times, most recently Dec 22, 1989

Wettest day

7.05 inSep 11, 2003

Snowiest day

18.0 inMar 17, 1924

Hottest year

1921mean 58.7°F

Coldest year

1979mean 51.3°F

Wettest year

199350.35 in

Driest year

195610.80 in

Snowiest season

56.0 in1947-48

Station Beloit (USC00140693), 1,391 ft elevation, 3.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 98.3% 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 USC00140693.
• 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.