Atchison County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Atchison 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 6, 2007Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Tarkio River near Fairfax crested at 25.78 feet, or 8.78 feet above flood stage. This was its highest crest ever and occurred on May 7, 2007. Major flooding in the communities of Fairfax and Tarkio. Numerous homes and businesses suffered flood damage. A levee break just upstream of Fairfax contributed to the flood damage.

2. Jun 5, 2008Tornado$210,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF1 tornado entered Atchison County at 18:59CST 2.3 miles east southeast of Milton. It proceeded north northeast and dissipated 1.3 miles east southeast of Tarkio. It damaged 5 sheds and destroyed 3 grain bins. Several power poles were also snapped off.

3. Apr 10, 1997Heavy Snow, Atchison$100,000
   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…

4. Mar 9, 2019Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Once the Missouri River started flooding on March 9, it remained in flood through the remainder of the month. The gauge in Brownsville, Nebraska - along the west bank of the Missouri River - reached 45.73 feet on March 16 (preliminarily a new record). The flooding was caused by several rounds of heavy snow across the Northern Plains through the winter months, followed by a rapid warm-up and several days of heavy rain. The Missouri River Basin across the Northern Plains flooded with catastrophic consequences as numerous dams and levees failed. As the water flowed into the Missouri River upstream of Atchison County, the river swelled and ultimately overwhelmed the levees along the…

5. Dec 10, 2007Ice Storm, Atchison$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ice accumulations from 3/4 to 1 inch were reported across the county.|Numerous tree branches and power lines down.

6. May 8, 1996Tornado$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down 2 miles east of Highway 59 and one mile south of Route C. The tornado traveled approximately 5 miles to the east destroying a barn and a warehouse of a seed company 1 mile east of Westboro.

7. May 15, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm moved northward through Atchison County from near Langdon through Phelps City through Linden and to the Iowa border. Property damage estimated at 50,000 dollars occurred along along Route 275 and County Road T. Numerous large trees were downed as a result of the winds and several farms reported damage to barns and grain bins. The most severe damage occurred at a farmstead on County Road T about 7 miles south of the Iowa border. Two farm houses had portions of the roof removed from the winds and falling trees damaged the southwest section of the house. One of the barns was completely leveled on the property. The property damage here alone was approximately…

8. Jun 21, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds knocked down large trees, 6 inches or more in diameter , into utility lines in Tarkio.

9. Apr 14, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Atchison County Sheriff's office reported a wind gust to 80 MPH at the intersection of Route 59 and Route B. Damage was reported to barns, sheds and an outbuilding in the area.

10. Mar 30, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Roof blown off shed. Trees damaged and highway signs snapped off on Highway 46.

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

114°F4 times, most recently Aug 13, 1936

All-time low

−30°FJan 13, 1916

Warmest night

87°F2 times, most recently Jun 19, 1921

Coldest day

−10°F3 times, most recently Dec 22, 1989

Wettest day

7.05 inJul 13, 1992

Snowiest day

12.0 inFeb 13, 1978

Hottest year

1921mean 57.8°F

Coldest year

1993mean 49.5°F

Wettest year

197357.33 in

Driest year

198815.78 in

Snowiest season

58.0 in1959-60

Station Falls City Brenner Field (USW00094957), 980 ft elevation, 25.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1912 to October 26, 2026; 99.6% 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 USW00094957.
• 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.