Lyon County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Lyon County: 10.
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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Nov 14, 1996Ice Storm, Lyon$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An ice storm consisting of several periods of freezing rain caused widespread damage to power lines and poles, and to trees. Power lines snapped, cable wires were ripped down, and tree debris littered and blocked some roads. Thousands lost power, some for 5 days. Travel was curtailed by icy surfaces and there were numerous accidents, although no serious injuries were reported. The ice storm was described as the worst in 40 years in the Worthington area. Many small farm structures were damaged. A 600 foot radio tower in Worthington was toppled. Schools and business were forced to close. Damage continued after the ice storm ended, including some damage occurring when ice melted…

2. Apr 16, 2019Flood$560,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Runoff following the major winter storm in mid-April produced considerable flooding of agricultural land. The Redwood River at Russell (gage site RUSM5) crested at 1.80 feet above flood stage on April 18.

3. Mar 13, 2019Flood$510,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   U.S. Highway 14 between 300th Avenue and County Road 54 was covered by water. Other flooding resulted in damage to public infrastructure including county and township roads and culverts. The property damage costs include estimates for public property losses.

4. Jan 21, 2005High Wind, Lyon$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds reached sustained speeds of 40 mph for several hours, with gusts up to 55 mph. The winds caused widespread damage to trees and power lines, which had been coated with ice and snow less than a day before. The winds also damaged an appliance store in Worthington. Resulting power outages affected thousands of residents, especially in the Marshall area.

5. Aug 6, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused widespread damage to trees and power lines, causing power outages. Damage to buildings and vehicles occurred from falling trees. Building damage directly from the winds also occurred, including shingles blown from roofs.

6. Jul 1, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused widespread tree damage, including numerous trees blown down. Several roads were blocked by fallen trees. Roofs and siding of several homes were damaged directly by the wind, and also by falling trees and wind blown tree debris. The winds also blew down power poles and lines, causing a power outage. The winds were accompanied by large hail.

7. Jun 19, 2014Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Persistent moderate to heavy rain caused flooding of fields and other lowlands, including numerous roads, and several homes and businesses. This flooding lasted through most of the daytime hours. Some roads were damaged or washed out.

8. Jul 1, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds damaged several homes and at least one barn, including parts of roofs torn off and shingles blown away. The winds also caused widespread tree damage, including trees up to 2 1/2 feet in diameter snapped off. Additional damage was done to roofs and siding of homes and other structures by falling trees and tree debris. Several grain bins were destroyed. The winds blew down power poles and lines, causing a power outage.

9. Apr 1, 2011Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding of lakes, streams, and lowlands, including some farmland, continued in the county through April. The Redwood river crested at a foot above flood stage at Russel on April 10th. While flooding of small streams abated, lake and lowland flooding continued with very slow improvement. Several roads remained flooded. High water and groundwater levels resulting from record precipitation in the previous year was the main reason that the flooding either grew worse or improved so slowly.

10. Jul 3, 2018Flash Flood$155,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Excessive rainfall rates overloaded culverts on County Road 5 north of Lynd and County Road 7 south of State Highway 23 near Marshall, each washing out large sections of roadway. Other county roads (60, 63 and 65) lost culverts as well, with road damage across the county totaling around 155 thousand dollars. Rainfall at Marshall was 4.81 inches, 4.02 inches just south of Marshall, 5.77 inches at Tracy and 6.50 inches at Ghent.

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

109°FJul 31, 1988

All-time low

−36°FFeb 16, 1936

Warmest night

83°FAug 16, 1988

Coldest day

−19°FDec 31, 2017

Wettest day

8.07 inJun 17, 1957

Snowiest day

16.0 inFeb 20, 1952

Hottest year

2012mean 49.6°F

Coldest year

1951mean 41.6°F

Wettest year

201945.78 in

Driest year

193617.26 in

Snowiest season

88.9 in2018-19

Station Marshall (USC00215204), 1,149 ft elevation, 3.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1935 to October 26, 2026; 99.2% 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 USC00215204.
• 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.