DeKalb County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within DeKalb County: 3.
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.

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.

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 29, 2004Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large F4 tornado touched down 2 miles south of Weatherby and moved east northeast. The tornado killed 3 persons near Weatherby. The 80 and 60 year old fatalities occurred in a destroyed frame house. Two mobile homes were destroyed with one having the 54 year old fatality. The tornado crossed into Daviess county 4 miles east of Weatherby.

2. Dec 10, 2007Ice Storm, De Kalb$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ice accumulated 3/4 of an inch across the county. Many tree branches and power lines were down.

3. Apr 10, 1997Heavy Snow, De Kalb$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. Apr 15, 2006Tornado$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   PSDA indicated a second tornado initially touched down just north of the De Kalb-Clinton County line about 1 mile east of Stewartsville, Missouri along Highway 36, where F1 damage was noted to a destroyed pole barn. The tornado tracked northeast producing F1 damage about a third of a mile north of the intersection of Fairview and Rogers Roads, where a second pole barn was destroyed. The tornado then intensified as it tracked northeast, producing F2 damage to a home near the intersection of Grindstone and Baker Roads. The tornado lifted just north of the intersection of Routes C and 6.

5. May 24, 2004Hail$10,000
6. May 29, 2004Tornado$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado crossed into Dekalb county near Osborn.

7. Apr 2, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ten power poles were snapped off along Highway 36 near Osborn.

8. May 20, 2021Tornado$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency management from DeKalb County notified the office that there were power poles and power lines down on two roads that are about a mile apart. The path of damage between these two roads was pretty narrow, and radar indicated some weak rotation, so a tornado was deemed the reason for the damage.

9. Jun 18, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$3,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds estimated up to 60 mph, caused damage to a machine shed and grain elevator.

10. Feb 28, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$3,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A 30 times 50 foot pole barn was blown over. Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated up to 60 mph.

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

107°F2 times, most recently Jul 30, 1980

All-time low

−25°FJan 12, 1974

Warmest night

87°FJul 27, 1970

Coldest day

−4°FJan 14, 2024

Wettest day

4.74 inSep 13, 2016

Snowiest day

8.5 inMar 2, 1978

Hottest year

2024mean 57.2°F

Coldest year

1979mean 50.3°F

Wettest year

197355.60 in

Driest year

201119.46 in

Station St. Joseph Rosecrans Mem Airport (USW00013993), 807 ft elevation, 29.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 98.6% 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 USW00013993.
• 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.