Madison County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Madison 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 storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 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.

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. Apr 3, 1999Flash Flood$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The worst flooding in Madison County history struck the morning of April 3, 1999. Rainfall of 6 to 10 inches fell primarily during a 2 hour period resulting in flash flooding throughout the county. The county was declared a Federal Disaster Area. At least 200 homes were either destroyed or suffered major damage as did about 30 businesses. Numerous livestock were also killed in the rural areas of the county. The city of Fredericktown was hard hit as Saline Creek, which normally has only a trickle of water in it, became a raging river over 200 yards wide in places. Rural areas along the St. Francis and Castor Rivers also were hit hard. The American Red Cross and the Salavation Army…

2. Oct 23, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm dropped 1 inch hail and caused wind damage in the Fredericktown area. The hail accumulated up to 2 to 3 inches on the ground in some areas. Some power lines were downed in Fredericktown. Just east of town, several large trees were downed one of which fell on and damaged a mobile home. At the Fredericktown Intermediate School, wind tore off a roof of a modular classroom, knocked down 5 trees and smashed windows on three teacher's cars.

3. Aug 4, 2022Flash Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Between 6 and 7 inches of rain fell in about a 2 to 3 hour period across northern portions of Madison County. Numerous creeks flooded, including Saline Creek in Fredericktown. Also, several rivers flooded including Little St. Francois River in Fredericktown, which rose 18.6 feet in 5 hours, cresting at 20.49 feet by 715 am. At least 21 people were rescued from the flood waters in and around Fredericktown. One person drove into flood waters on Highway Z on the east side of town and floated into the ditch. They were rescued and sustained no injuries. The flash flooding affected the Holmes Subdivision as well as other homes and businesses along Saline Creek and a creek along South…

4. May 8, 2024Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down 3.8 miles southwest of Fredericktown on County Road 503, uprooting a large tree. The tornado tracked to the northeast towards Fredericktown, crossing over U.S. Highway 67, just south of intersection with Highway 72. On the northwest side of town it caused minor shingle damage to one house and blew down a few more large trees. Then on the north side of town, the tornado it blew a large portion of roof off of an open sided outbuilding, tore off a car port roof on a house and uprooted or snapped off several more large trees. The tornado then lifted and dissipated on Schulte Lane, just west of Highway 72. Overall, the tornado was rated EF0 with a path length of…

5. Jul 17, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread tree damage was reported between Fredericktown and Marquand. Numerous trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down. MODOT crews were called to clear tree debris from Highways M, J, W and D.

6. Apr 5, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm wind gusts caused damage along Highway J east of Fredericktown. A couple of homes had roof damage, a barn was destroyed, metal outbuildings destroyed and trees downed.

7. Jul 10, 2026Flash Flood$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rain began at about 10PM on the 9th, but heavy rain continued through most of the night. Flash flooding began in the early morning hours, peaking before dawn. By morning, a swath of 7 to 10 inches of rain had fallen across southwest Madison County. All creeks and rivers in this area overflowed their banks, with most of this water flowing through the St Francis River. Some roads were inundated including Route C near Saco.

8. Apr 5, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm wind gusts took the roof off a double-wide mobile home near the intersection of Highway 67 and Route A.

9. Oct 23, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm dropped 1 inch hail and caused wind damage in the Fredericktown area. The hail accumulated up to 2 to 3 inches on the ground in some areas. Some power lines were downed in Fredericktown. Just east of town, several large trees were downed one of which fell on and damaged a mobile home. At the Fredericktown Intermediate School, wind tore off a roof of a modular classroom, knocked down 5 trees and smashed windows on three teacher's cars.

10. Aug 8, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorm winds blew over a utility pole causing several power outages across the town.

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

110°FJun 29, 2012

All-time low

−19°FFeb 9, 1979

Warmest night

83°FJul 26, 2012

Coldest day

2°F2 times, most recently Jan 7, 2014

Wettest day

5.16 inMar 28, 1977

Snowiest day

14.0 inFeb 16, 1910

Hottest year

1954mean 59.6°F

Coldest year

2014mean 52.5°F

Wettest year

194561.26 in

Driest year

198824.57 in

Snowiest season

25.0 in1947-48

Station Perryville Water Plant (USC00236641), 502 ft elevation, 24.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1907 to October 16, 2026; 95.5% 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 USC00236641.
• 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.