Reynolds County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jul 9, 2026Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rain began at about 10PM on the 9th, but heavy rain continued through most of the night. Flash flooding began along the East and Middle Forks of the Black River at around midnight, but the rain kept coming. By morning a swath of 10 to 12 inches of rain had fallen across northeast Reynolds County, with most of that water flowing quickly through the Black River basin. Nearly the entire flood plain was inundated including many camp sites near the rivers. The Lesterville area was particularly hard hit. Hundreds of people were stranded by flood waters including more than 200 children and staff at Camp Taum Sauk on the Black River. The USGS river gage on the Black River near Annapolis…

2. Apr 4, 2025Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several road closures were reported mainly in the Ellington area has rainwater flooded roadways and areal creeks overflowed. Examples of road closures include: MO 106 1 mile west of Route F, Route B between CR 785 and CR 784, and CR 838 at its intersection with CR 837. Logan Creek overflowed, making its bridge on Route B impassable and causing extensive damage to the bridge.

3. Jul 26, 1998Flash Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of at least 6 inches caused widespread flooding across the area. Numerous roads and bridges were either washed out or damaged by the water. Preliminary estimates of damages to public facilities were around $200,000 in Iron County and close to $400,000 in Reynolds County. The Missouri Department of Conservation reported that the Logan Creek Conservation Area in Reynolds also suffered significant damage. In Ironton, Stout's Creek flooded part of Main Street and part of the Meadowbrook subdivision. The creek also flooded parts of the town of Arcadia Valley. The Governor declared a state of emergency for all 3 counties.

4. Mar 18, 2008Flash Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very heavy rain fell over Reynolds county beginning late on the 17th of March and throughout the day on the 18th. The co-operative observer in Ellington reported a storm total of 9.7 inches. Four inches of rain fell in Ellington through 8 am on the 18th, then another 2 inches fell between 8 am and 11 am on the 18th, with an additional 3.7 inches in the hours after that. This caused the creeks in the area to rise rapidly including Logan Creek which flows through the middle of Ellington. The creek began to rise rapidly around 7 am, rising nearly 10 feet by noon. Around 8 am, an 81 year old man was trying to clear some flood debris from a bridge that goes over the creek next to his…

5. Dec 28, 2015Flash Flood$355,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Between 3 and 6 inches of rain fell across the county in a 48 hour period. The heaviest rain fell in the early morning hours of December 28th causing flash flooding. Numerous roads were flooded including Route F where Logan Creek passes under it, the intersection of Highway 106 and Route B due to Logan Creek being well out of it's banks and Route CC from County Road 465 to the Wayne County line. Damage so far has been estimated around $355,000.

6. Mar 14, 2025Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At approximately 10:20 PM a tornado began near Missouri Highway HH in the Clearwater Conservation Area to the northeast of Garwood, MO in Reynolds County where it caused tree damage and collapsed the roof of a shed. From there the tornado continued northeast and passed over Clearwater Lake where it destroyed multiple outbuildings on and near the water. Further northeast on County Road 468, the tornado damaged more trees before exiting into Wayne County. In Reynolds County the tornado was rated EF-2 with a path length of 9.99 miles and a maximum path width of 1525 yards.

7. Dec 1, 2006Winter Storm, Reynolds$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major winter storm hit Central, Northeast, East Central and parts of Southeast Missouri from November 30 through Dcember 1. Over a foot of snow fell across parts of Central Missouri while a major ice storm hit parts of East Central and Southeast Missouri, including the St. Louis area. Ice accumulations of 1 inch or more downed trees and power lines resulting in at least 300,000 electric customers losing service for up to a week. Downed limbs and trees damaged homes and automobiles across the area as well. Many rural schools were closed for several days due to slick roads and power outages. The National Guard was called out to several counties to assist with debris removal and…

8. Oct 18, 2004Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A small tornado hit the Redford area of Reynolds County. Several structures suffered minor damage, primarily roof shingles and siding blown off. One garage and 2 barns also suffered roof damage.

9. Aug 17, 2007Lightning$55,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck an electrical box on a house near Lesterville. The house caught fire and burned to the ground. No injuries were reported.

10. May 5, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$5,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 mph or higher downed a few trees and power lines.

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°F3 times, most recently Jul 17, 1980

All-time low

−19°FJan 24, 1963

Warmest night

79°FJul 1, 2023

Coldest day

1°FJan 11, 1982

Wettest day

8.10 in2 times, most recently Mar 19, 2008

Snowiest day

12.0 inFeb 16, 1993

Hottest year

1954mean 59.3°F

Coldest year

1979mean 53.7°F

Wettest year

198267.63 in

Driest year

195326.12 in

Snowiest season

24.9 in1977-78

Station Clearwater Dam (USC00231674), 660 ft elevation, 17.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1946 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 USC00231674.
• 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.