Benton County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jul 1, 2015Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS storm survey concluded that a EF-1 tornado touched down on the west side of Warsaw. The estimated maximum wind speeds were up to 95 mph. The tornado touched down about 3 miles northwest of Warsaw and lift just west of downtown Warsaw. The path width was estimated to be around a quarter of a mile wide and was on the ground for over 3 miles. Numerous trees were uprooted along the path. A metal building was damaged. A boat dock was flipped and heavily damaged with 7 boats sunk at the dock. A fireworks tent was blown over. There were a couple of trees that fell on to recreational vehicles at a RV park.

2. Apr 17, 2026Tornado$425,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An National Weather Service survey concluded an EF1 tornado touched down southwest of Warsaw, crossing the lake, and tracking just east of Highway 65. The tornado flipped several mobile homes resting on blocks, damaged signs and roofing associated with stores along Highway 65, and created a pattern of tree damage including many uprooted or snapped, surveyed through in-person and Sentinel-2 satellite surveys. The tornado tracked for a little over 6 miles with a path width of 200 yards and maximum wind speeds of 90mph.

3. Jul 5, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A derecho swept across much of west central and central Missouri during the early morning hours of July 5th. Severe winds from this line of thunderstorms affected a campground near Truman Lake where 48 people were injured. One fatality occurred as a 47 year old man drove his boat over the lake while the storm swept through. Thirty five homes and businesses were damaged.

4. Jan 12, 2007Ice Storm, Benton$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Three inches of sleet pack caused several barns and businesses to collapse. Damage amounts were estimated at $300,000.

5. Aug 1, 2012Drought, Benton$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The U.S Drought Monitor continued to report Extreme Drought (D3) to Exceptional Drought (D4) throughout the month of August. The region started seeing some rainfall by the end of the month. The COOP station near Truman Dam reported 1.25 of rainfall for the month of August. The COOP station near Cole Camp reported 0.63 of rainfall for the month of August. This is a continuation of the drought that began across the region in June. As a result of the limited rainfall combined with the excessive heat, the USDA Service center in Benton County indicated that crop losses were 75 percent of the spring planting. Many farmers and ranchers reported having to feed hay as pastures stopped…

6. May 19, 2025Tornado$160,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS storm survey confirmed an EF-1 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 100 mph had uprooted and snapped numerous trees. As the tornado curled near the end of its lifespan it damaged three barns and downed several power poles.

7. May 19, 2025Tornado$148,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS storm survey confirmed that an EF-1 tornado with maximum winds of 100 mph caused widespread uprooted and snapped trees along with power lines downed. Several barns suffered varying degrees of damage along with the roof of one home.

8. May 19, 2025Tornado$115,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS survey team determined that an EF-1 tornado pushed a mobile home off its block, damaged outbuildings and snapped trees along a track west of Racket just east of the Henry Benton County line. Maximum wind speeds were determined to be 105 mph.

9. Mar 12, 2006Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado is an extension of the Henry County tornado that eventually tracked into Pettis County following its track through far northwest Benton County. Damage to a few homes and barns along with trees and power poles occurred.

10. Apr 10, 2016Hail$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    There were multiple reports of large hail up to 2 inch in diameter. Numerous cars were damaged with dents and broken car windows in the area. There were reports of siding damage to a church and some homes due to the hail. There were multiple pictures of the large hail on social media. This storm report will include the total estimated damage cost for the entire county with this event.

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°F2 times, most recently Aug 3, 2011

All-time low

−20°F2 times, most recently Dec 24, 1989

Warmest night

81°F5 times, most recently Jul 24, 2016

Coldest day

−4°FDec 25, 1983

Wettest day

6.33 inJul 18, 2018

Snowiest day

7.0 inFeb 16, 1993

Hottest year

2016mean 59.4°F

Coldest year

1996mean 53.5°F

Wettest year

198557.64 in

Driest year

200626.42 in

Station Truman Dam & Rsvr (USC00238466), 754 ft elevation, 6.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1980 to October 27, 2026; 88.1% 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 USC00238466.
• 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.