Shelby County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Aug 9, 2025Tornado$105,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A brief EF-1 tornado touched down just east of Leonard and moved northeast. The tornado caused damage to farm structures, homes, and trees along its short track before dissipating just west of Highway BB.

2. Jun 3, 2008Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The communications tower at the county courthouse in Shelbyville was struck by lightning damaging computers for the 911 system and the sheriff's office, radio consoles, and various other electronic equipment. Damage is estimated around $100,000.

3. Aug 9, 2025Tornado$90,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A brief EF-1 tornado struck a farm just northeast of Leonard, MO on Shelby 129.

4. Jun 4, 2001Lightning$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A lightning strike is believed to have been the cause of a fire that destroyed the building of an antique business in Clarence.

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

   Thunderstorm wind gusts downed a 70 foot oak tree which fell on a house along Route J east of Bethel. The roof and two chimneys were heavily damaged.

6. Aug 7, 1996Lightning$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck the roof of a garage causing a small fire. Appliances in the attached home were also damaged.

7. Aug 2, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds blew a large tree branch onto a home causing minor roof and eave damage.

8. Jul 8, 2008Lightning$2,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck the county courthouse for the fourth time since June 4th of this year. This time it knocked out part of the 911 capabilities, along with other software and computers throughout the courthouse.

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

   Over 3 inches of rain fell on Shelby county on already saturated soils. This caused widespread flash flooding. Numerous secondary roads were flooded including Highway 151 north of Clarence, Highway N north of Lentner, and Highways K and 15 near Shelbyville.

10. Dec 9, 2009Strong Wind, Shelby$1,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An intense low pressure moved across the region into the Great Lakes. On December 9, very strong winds developed across Central and Eastern Missouri. Wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph were common across the area.

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

112°FJul 14, 1954

All-time low

−30°F2 times, most recently Jan 15, 1979

Warmest night

80°F5 times, most recently Jul 19, 1996

Coldest day

−10°FFeb 8, 1933

Wettest day

8.00 inJul 19, 1896

Snowiest day

15.0 inFeb 2, 2011

Hottest year

1990mean 56.4°F

Coldest year

2014mean 48.9°F

Wettest year

200861.14 in

Driest year

198818.95 in

Snowiest season

53.1 in1925-26

Station Shelbina (USC00237720), 747 ft elevation, 5.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1928 to October 27, 2026; 90.0% 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 USC00237720.
• 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.