Woodson County

Every recorded tornado

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

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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.

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 8, 2003Tornado$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage summary: Toronto: Outbuildings destroyed. 1N Toronto: Trees & limbs downed. 1W Batesville: Large trees uprooted and sheared off, sheet metal in trees, old wood shed destroyed. 1N Batesville: Oil tank 12-15 feet high toppled (leaked profusely), power pole blown over. 2NE Batesville: House destroyed, 2 vehicles heavily damaged, pair of 2-3 foot diameter trees stripped 4 feet off ground. 3-4NE Batesville: Cattle barn & garage destroyed, windows blown out of house, large pick-up truck rolled onto side. 1N Yates Center: House & barn destroyed on Highway 75, horse trailer flipped over, large trees uprooted or snapped off at bases, broke or toppled 70 grave markers at the…

2. Jan 1, 1999Winter Storm, Woodson$250,000
3. Mar 27, 2009Winter Storm, Woodson$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wintry mix of freezing rain and periodic sleet affected the county from the early to mid morning hours on the 27th through the early morning hours on the 28th. The wintry mix eventually changed over to snow from west to east for a relatively brief period during the morning and afternoon hours on the 28th. Widespread ice accumulations ranged from one-quarter to three quarters of an inch. Total sleet and snow accumulations on top of the ice ranged from 1 to 3 inches, highest over far eastern portions of the county. Stout north to northeast winds resulted in some blowing snow, reducing visibilities during the morning and afternoon hours on the 28th. The weight of the ice in concert…

4. Jun 14, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flat bed-trailer overturned, barn destroyed, livestock trailer picked up and thrown, barrel rolled 1 1/2 blocks and destroyed and 2-story house displaced from foundation with most of top floor removed. In addition, a couple, both around 50 years of age, were lifted by the wind with one knocked unconscious by blown debris. Both were taken to a hospital, treated, and released. Based on description of this damage, winds are being estimated at 70-78kts.

5. Jun 12, 2004Hail$97,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The following sustained damage: 16 farm dwellings & service buildings ($96,000), 3 pieces of equipment/ machinery ($1,200), and an estimated 4,800 acres of land ($21,600) due primarily to gullying and erosion. Acreage breakdown of 3rd category follows: Corn: 800, Wheat: 1,400; Soybeans: 1,200; Grain sorghum: 1,200; Hay: 200. (This portion of narrative courtesy of USDA Flash Situation Report, Woodson County.) Property damage extensive, involving the following: Broken windows in numerous buildings, business and residential, including the courthouse, a hardware store, and a restaurant, roofs and siding on numerous homes and, obviously, trees and other foliage. (Latter narrative…

6. Jun 14, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Barn destroyed and blown across highway, cars blown off road and power lines downed.

7. Jul 1, 2007Flash Flood$71,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extremely heavy rainfall from the end of June into early July caused flash flooding throughout Woodson County. This resulted in roughly 71 thousand dollars in damage.

8. Apr 21, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   GOLFBALL-SIZED HAIL AND HIGH WINDS BROKE WINDOWS, INFLICTED ROOF DAMAGE, SHEARED A LARGE TREE NEARLY IN HALF AND BLEW HORSE TRAILER OFF STAND 3-6 MILES NORTHWEST OF YATES CENTER.

9. Aug 5, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Part of roof of west wing of the historic Woodson Hotel torn from it's rafters. Trailer overturned at community building. Widespread tree damage. Yates Center News contributed greatly to this narrative.

10. May 3, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous trees were down west of Yates Center. The Emergency manager also reported damage to several outbuildings and metal structures between 70th and 100th streets, including along highway 54.

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

111°F4 times, most recently Aug 21, 2023

All-time low

−28°FFeb 12, 1899

Warmest night

84°F2 times, most recently Jul 5, 1980

Coldest day

−4°FJan 12, 1912

Wettest day

7.32 inMay 31, 1906

Snowiest day

15.0 inMar 24, 1912

Hottest year

1963mean 59.4°F

Coldest year

1912mean 53.2°F

Wettest year

197364.27 in

Driest year

196317.15 in

Snowiest season

39.3 in1987-88

Station Yates Center (USC00149080), 1,112 ft elevation, 0.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 97.8% 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 USC00149080.
• 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.