Monroe County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jun 27, 1998Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Another series of thunderstorms passed over the county on the evening of the 27th, triggering extensive flash flooding across the entire county. Subsequent thunderstorms over the next several days continued the flooding through the end of the month. Numerous roads across the county were closed due to flooding. The towns of Woodsfield and Cameron were especially hard hit. In Cameron, flood waters from Sunfish Creek prompted several evacuations. Extensive street flooding was reported in Woodsfield.

2. Mar 1, 1997Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread two-day rainfall totals for March 1 and 2 generally ranged from 2.4 to 3.4 inches across much of Monroe County. The heavy rainfall led to widespread flooding across the county. Sunfish Creek in the eastern part of the county was among the first creek to be reported out of its banks during the evening of March 1st. State Route 78 was also under water where the creek crosses the road. Numerous other streams and roads became flooded overnight. A total of 15 township roads were closed. Parts of roads, hillsides, and culverts were washed away, primarily in the southern and southwestern parts of the county. Debris also covered many roads. Roads were flooded near Lewisville…

3. Feb 28, 2024Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A NWS Storm Survey confirmed an EF-2 tornado tracked roughly 4 miles from Miltonsburg to Ozark in Monroe County. The tornado was embedded within a wider swath of straight-line wind damage. Maximum wind gusts were near 120mph. There was widespread tree damage and many outbuildings were affected. The most significant damage was located off Minder Road where a house sustained major damage, which consisted of it being shifted off its foundation, windows blown out, and a complete collapse of the attached garage. There was one indirect injury during cleanup efforts.

4. Sep 17, 2004Flood, Monroe$310,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   At 1230 PM EDT, many roads flooded near Woodsfield. As of 3 PM EDT, numerous streams continued to flood roads. Clarington also flooded. State routes 7 and 78 were closed by multiple mud slides. 17 structures damaged or destroyed. Most small stream flooding had ended by early on the 18th, but flooding on the Ohio River continued: at Hannibal, the Ohio River rose above flood stage (35 ft) at 4 AM EDT on 18th, crested at 41.1 ft at 9 AM EDT on 19th, and fell below flood stage at 10 AM EDT on 20th. Total rain: 6.6 inches at Woodsfield. (IVAN)

5. Jan 19, 1996Flood, Monroe$120,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flood waters from the Allegheny and the Monongahela Rivers crested in phase at the Point in Pittsburgh. Water from these two mainstem rivers flow into the Ohio River. Major flooding to communities along the Ohio River occurred in Columbiana, Jefferson, Belmont, and Monroe Counties in east-central Ohio. The Ohio River at East Liverpool went above its 14 foot flood stage on the 19th at 10 pm EST. The river crested at 24.8 feet (10.8 feet above flood stage) on the 20th at 7 pm. Crests downstream were not as high, Hannibal, Ohio crested at 39.4 feet (4.4 feet above flood stage) on the 21st at 1 pm. Nonetheless, damages to homes and businesses and their contents, public facilities,…

6. Feb 12, 2009High Wind, Monroe$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful cold front moved across the Ohio Valley on the evening of the 11th as strong low pressure moved north across the Great Lakes. A convective line along the cold front produced widespread damage across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, and Garrett county Maryland with thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 to 70 MPH and a peak wind gust of 92 MPH at Allegheny County Airport near Pittsburgh. High winds gusting over 60 MPH behind the front in a strong pressure gradient produced wind damage across the entire region into midday on the 12th. In all across eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and Garrett county Maryland over one half…

7. Mar 25, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused substantial damage to the roof of the River High School at Hannibal. A 6,400 square foot section of the roof on the southwest section of the building was peeled back. Also, a 13,000 square foot section of the roof over a gymnasium was damaged.

8. Jan 5, 2005Flood, Monroe$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   By 830 AM on 5th, CR 28, Twp Rd 8, and others flooded. Old Rte 7 near Clarington flooded. By 945 pm on 5th, SR 26 was still flooded near Rinard Mills. Rte 7 was closed the entire length of Monroe County. Then the Ohio River went above flood stage. On the Ohio River, Hannibal OH was above flood stage (35 ft), from 730 PM on 6th to 230 PM on 8th; it crested 38.3 ft 2 PM on 7th.

9. Sep 7, 2009Flood$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   County officials reported flooding and a mud slide covering portions of county RD 11 south of Antioch.

10. Oct 26, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Emergency management reported numerous trees down across the southrn half of the county.

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

101°FJul 8, 2012

All-time low

−24°F2 times, most recently Jan 20, 1994

Warmest night

76°F2 times, most recently Aug 15, 1995

Coldest day

−6°FJan 21, 1985

Wettest day

4.28 inSep 9, 2004

Snowiest day

20.0 inMar 14, 1993

Hottest year

2024mean 54.9°F

Coldest year

1979mean 49.9°F

Wettest year

201870.51 in

Driest year

198631.70 in

Snowiest season

31.0 in2009-10

Station Hannibal Locks & Dam (USC00333500), 620 ft elevation, 11.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1975 to October 27, 2026; 98.7% 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 USC00333500.
• 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.