Pike County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by MO DNR (22), NASA (1).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 3, 2008Flood$285,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Mississippi River at Louisiana crested at 26.96 feet on 6/23/2008. This is the third highest crest ever recorded. The Highway 54 bridge had to be closed due to flooding on the Illinois side. Highway 79 was also closed in town. Eighteen homes and eight businesses were flooded but many others were saved by sand bagging efforts. A boil order was in effect for a while due to a water main break. The Mississippi River at Clarksville crested at 36.70 feet on 6/24/2008. This is the third highest crest ever recorded. A huge sand bagging effort saved much of the downtown area, but 10 homes were still flooded. Fifteen homes lost water service due to a water line break. Damage to public…

2. Feb 11, 1999Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The same supercell that spawned the Whiteside tornado in Lincoln County created another tornado which tracked for 20 plus miles from southwest of Annada in Pike County, MO, northeast across Calhoun County, IL, then into Pike County, IL. The first segment extended for about 6 1/2 miles from southwest of Annada to the Mississippi river west of Mozier IL. The tornado started out at F2 travelling along a bluff and destroying one home and damaging 2 others. 2 of the 4 sides of the destroyed home were blown 100 to 150 yards downwind. Several trees were downed along the path as well.

3. Jun 19, 2008Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A levee broke just north of Highway M in Lincoln county and near Kickapoo Road. It flooded portions of the Elsberry Levee District in extreme southeastern Pike county east of Highway 79 and from Annada southward.

4. Aug 18, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$20,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Storm spotters reported a couple of trees down. One large tree on Georgia Street fell on a house causing moderate damage to the roof.

5. Apr 12, 2013Flood$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Mississippi River rose to major flood levels along the border of Pike County. The river crested on the 22nd but remained above flood stage into May. The City of Clarksville, with the help of the Missouri National Guard and many volunteers, was able to build a sandbag wall to protect the downtown business district. Thus damage was limited to some flooded roads, a few outbuilding in the flood plain, and agricultural lowlands.

6. Apr 20, 2025Tornado$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A brief tornado tracked northeast near Highway E, 2 miles northeast of the community of Spencerburg where it caused significant damage to an outbuilding and a few trees. The tornado was rated EF-0 with a path length of 0.34 miles and a maximum path width of 25 yards.

7. Aug 25, 2004Lightning$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck the television tower on a home in the Bowling Green area ultimately setting the home's deck and some siding on fire. Damage was estimated at $10,000.

8. Jun 17, 2022Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous tree limbs were blown down across the county, especially in New Hartford, Bowling Green and Louisiana. Some of the tree limbs took down power lines. One large tree limb landed on a house in Bowling Green causing minor roof damage.

9. Sep 20, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds blew a tree down onto an unoccupied car causing moderate damage.

10. Dec 10, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$5,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Four large trees were blown down onto Highway 79 near the intersection with Route TT.

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 Jul 30, 1980

All-time low

−24°F3 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Warmest night

88°FJun 27, 1914

Coldest day

−8°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

5.58 inJul 10, 1991

Snowiest day

17.0 inFeb 2, 2011

Hottest year

2012mean 57.1°F

Coldest year

2014mean 50.2°F

Wettest year

200859.11 in

Driest year

201221.89 in

Snowiest season

60.5 in1977-78

Station Vandalia (USC00238577), 764 ft elevation, 18.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1911 to October 27, 2026; 93.4% 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 USC00238577.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.