Johnson County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Johnson County: 1.
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. Apr 10, 2001Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado moved across the north side of Warrensburg, damaging approximately 100 homes andbusinesses. No injuries or deaths were reported. The tornado was on the ground for 10 minutes, movingto the east. The path width ranged between 50 and 75 yards, and rear flank downdraft winds to the southof the tornado, caused minor damage to structures in downtown Warrensburg.

2. Mar 12, 2006Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado touched down at 2040 CST 2 miles northeast of Leeton...producing F0 damage along PP Highway. As it moved northeast...additional F0 to F1 damage was noted to a farmstead along SE 650th Road. The most intense F2 damage was noted along Y Highway just east of Highway 23...where several homes suffered F2 damage. The tornado crossed into Pettis county at 2057 CST...1.5 miles southeast of Whiteman Air Force Base.

3. Jun 4, 2005Tornado$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   F1 tornado touched down 5 miles southwest of Holden and then moved northeast across Route 131 before skipping to and then lifting 3 miles west southwest of Centerview. The biggest impact was at the Miller Training Stables on Route 131. Two women received minor injuries when their house was lifted off the foundation. Six horses were killed and 42 were injured. Three barns, the residence, and 3 cars were heavily damaged or destroyed. There were also several other homes and barns damaged by the tornado before it lifted.

4. Jan 30, 2002Ice Storm, Johnson$200,000
   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.

5. Feb 24, 2007Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   EF1 tornado touched down 5 miles south of Holden at 5:18 PM CST and moved north-northeast 2 miles, before lifting 3 miles south of Holden at 5:21 PM CST. The tornado damaged two homes, one business, and several farm buildings. Power lines and trees were also downed.

6. Nov 9, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds destroyed two mobile homes, and substantially damaged a single family residence. Two people in one of the mobile homes suffered minor injuries due to flying debris. Two automobiles were also overturned.

7. Jun 27, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A trailer was destroyed, and another home sustained roof damage.

8. Mar 30, 2006Hail$50,000
9. Apr 24, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several barns destroyed and numerous trees down. Also minor damage to homes.

10. Apr 6, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$25,000

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

118°FJul 15, 1936

All-time low

−31°F2 times, most recently Dec 24, 1989

Warmest night

85°FJul 1, 1931

Coldest day

−15°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

7.00 inJun 3, 1943

Snowiest day

18.0 inFeb 19, 1938

Hottest year

1921mean 60.0°F

Coldest year

1951mean 50.4°F

Wettest year

198667.91 in

Driest year

195323.85 in

Snowiest season

37.5 in1978-79

Station Clinton (USC00231711), 770 ft elevation, 25.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1906 to October 27, 2026; 85.6% 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 USC00231711.
• 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.