Bates County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jun 28, 2007Heavy Rain$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A total of 14.75 inches of rain was reported over a three day period. Major flooding of the Marais Des Cygnes River was reported across the southern part of the county. Damage was reported to many homes and businesses, as well as to railroad tracks and roads. Agricultural losses were significant.

2. May 8, 2003Hail$6.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail damaged 1,100 homes and 750 cars.

3. Jan 30, 2002Ice Storm, Bates$580,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A long-lived major ice and snow storm blasted much of northwest, northern and central Missouri from late Tuesday, January 29th, until Thursday, January 31st. Ice accumulations of over an inch were observed from the Kansas City metropolitan area, east and north through Moberly Missouri. At one point 409,504 total customers were without electrical power in the CWA, with some residents without power up to two weeks. For the Kansas City area, the ice storm was ranked as the worst ever. Further north across northern Missouri, heavy snow fell generally along and north of a line, from St. Joseph to Trenton to Kirksville. Snow accumulations ranged from 8 to 14 inches.

4. Mar 12, 2006Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado crossed into Bates county from Linn county Kansas at 1424 CST...2 miles west-southwest of Amsterdam. The F0 tornado caused damage to several buildings in Amsterdam. The tornado then continued northeast over rural areas with damage limited to trees. The tornado then lifted 1 mile northwest of Adrian at 1442 CST.

5. Mar 12, 2006Hail$75,000
6. Feb 28, 2007Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The supercell thunderstorm which earlier had produced an EF4 tornado in Linn county Kansas, moved east-northeast into Bates county and spawned another tornado, EF1 in intensity, 3 miles east southeast of Amsterdam at 8:27 PM CST and then traveled over rural areas to the northeast, before lifting 3 miles west of Adrian at 8:37 PM CST. Major damage to one residence was noted, along with minor damage to other outbuildings. Trees and power poles were downed as well.

7. Jun 5, 2008Tornado$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Brief EF0 tornado touchdown at 2215CST in Foster. Damage was to trees and several roofs in a 2 block area. Several of the trees fell|on vehicles.

8. May 8, 2003Hail$25,000
9. Mar 12, 2006Hail$25,000
10. Mar 8, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorms with winds gusting to an estimated 70 mph, caused large trees to be uprooted. There was also damage to shingles and siding on several homes. A large window was blown out of a residential home, and three power poles and their power lines were downed.

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

117°FJul 14, 1954

All-time low

−26°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

85°FJul 15, 1980

Coldest day

−1°F2 times, most recently Feb 16, 2021

Wettest day

8.67 inJun 11, 1981

Snowiest day

19.0 inDec 29, 1954

Hottest year

1953mean 59.4°F

Coldest year

1979mean 52.2°F

Wettest year

201963.98 in

Driest year

198022.08 in

Snowiest season

39.1 in1954-55

Station Butler 4W (USC00231145), 790 ft elevation, 2.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1946 to October 27, 2026; 96.1% 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 USC00231145.
• 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.