Adair County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Adair County: 2.
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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 13, 2009Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF2 tornado touched down at 17:09 CST, 2 miles north-northwest of Kirksville. This tornado traveled east over northern portions of Kirksville, before lifting at 17:20 CST, 2 miles west-southwest of the town of Clay. This tornado killed two people and damaged numerous homes in northern Kirksville. Ten homes were destroyed and fifteen others suffered major damage. Up to 186 other buildings and homes had minor to moderate damage. Two dealerships suffered major damage. Several farmsteads suffered damage east of Kirksville.

2. May 11, 2002Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Highway 63 closed in 3 places around Kirksville. Water waist deep in spots. Highway 11 closed in 2 places around Kirksville.

3. Jul 25, 2008Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Chariton River near Novinger, had its third highest crest on record,|28.44 feet. Several hundred acres of low lying farm land was inundated. Five homes in Novinger suffered total loss.

4. May 11, 2005Lightning$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a bar in downtown Kirksville with establishment totally destroyed by fire.

5. Apr 10, 1997Heavy Snow, Adair$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy wet snow fell across the Northern third of Missouri throughout the day on the 10th followed by a second band of snow during the early morning hours of the 11th. Since temperatures were near or slightly over freezing during the snowfall, some of the snow melted quickly but 6 to 12 inches of snow accumulated with well over a foot in many locations. The heaviest snow fell along and to the north of Highway 136 from Albany in Gentry County to Prineton in Mercer County to Lancaster in Schuyler County. The greatest totals were recorded in Schuyler and Mercer Counties where 20-24 inches of snow was reported. Schuyler County Emergency Management reported 24 inches of snow at…

6. May 13, 2009Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF1 tornado touched down around 5 miles west of Novinger at 16:43 CST, and paralled Highway 6 as it moved east. The tornado lifted around 2 miles east of Novinger at 16:55 CST. The tornado destroyed a house and out building west of Novinger. On the south side of Novinger, a mobile home was destroyed and power poles and lines were downed. Additional power poles and trees were damaged, before the tornado lifted.

7. Nov 12, 2018Winter Weather, Adair$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Light snow caused several vehicle accidents across the region as roads iced up. Along HWY 63 about 1-2 miles north of Kirksville a vehicle slid into the path of another vehicle, striking it head on. Four people were injured in the accident.

8. Jun 18, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds gusted up to 75 MPH in the Kirksville area resulting in uprooted trees and downed power lines. Large trees blew on top of the roofs of houses causing significant damages along the 900 block of Michigan Avenue and the 800 block of South Fifth Street. Ameren Union Electric reported that 7,700 customers lost power during the storm.

9. Jul 19, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds knocked down a large tree limb( a foot in diamter) in Kirksville. The large limb blocked North Elson Street. The storm also knocked down a power line and blew a dog pen into the street.

10. Aug 10, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorm winds uprooted trees up to 4 inches in diameter and blew over a chicken coop along Route AA near Sublette. Also in Sublette a trailer was blown over by the thunderstorm winds.

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

108°FJul 14, 1954

All-time low

−21°FFeb 2, 1951

Warmest night

80°FJul 19, 2019

Coldest day

−6°F2 times, most recently Jan 14, 2024

Wettest day

7.32 inJul 24, 2008

Snowiest day

12.6 inJan 26, 1967

Hottest year

2012mean 55.0°F

Coldest year

1951mean 48.7°F

Wettest year

201964.54 in

Driest year

195324.66 in

Snowiest season

50.1 in1964-65

Station Kirksville Regional Airport (USW00014938), 956 ft elevation, 7.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 94.0% 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 USW00014938.
• 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.