Mercer County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Apr 10, 1997Heavy Snow, Mercer$500,000
   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…

2. May 24, 2004Hail$25,000
3. Apr 2, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The west side of a truck shop, on the north side of town was destroyed. There was also roof damage and multiple tree limbs down, reported across town.

4. Apr 2, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A farm building roof collapsed from thunderstorm winds, estimated up to 60 mph.

5. Dec 10, 2007Ice Storm, Mercer$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ice accumulations of 3/4 inch reported across the county. Many trees and power lines down.

6. May 19, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A machine shed as destroyed and the debris was tossed several hundred feet east. Power poles were also snapped near Mill Grove.

7. May 19, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Homeowner estimated 80 mph winds with a storm that moved through Modena. Windows were blown out by the strong winds.

8. Jun 1, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$8,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A small barn was destroyed one mile south of Princeton. Tree limbs and power lines were also reported down in Princeton.

9. Jul 3, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$2,000
10. May 10, 2003Tornado$1,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Brief 20 second tornado touchdown reported by spotters along E highway, north of ZZ, or 10 miles southeast of Princeton. Minor damage reported to trees and an outbuilding.

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

111°FJul 24, 1901

All-time low

−28°FFeb 13, 1905

Warmest night

88°FJun 30, 1894

Coldest day

−10°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

6.30 inJun 25, 2021

Snowiest day

13.0 inMar 30, 1899

Hottest year

1954mean 55.9°F

Coldest year

1978mean 48.2°F

Wettest year

199359.45 in

Driest year

198818.41 in

Snowiest season

57.0 in1959-60

Station Princeton (USC00236866), 980 ft elevation, 1.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 85.3% 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 USC00236866.
• 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.