Richland County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 21, 2007Flash Flood$70.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain producing thunderstorms affected Richland County during the late evening hours of August 20th and early morning hours of August 21st. Rainfall rates with the strongest storms exceeded three inches per hour. A trained spotter in Mansfield measured a storm total of 7.5 inches. An automated sensor at Mansfield Lahm Airport measured a total of 6.24 inches with 4.09 inches of this total falling between 2 and 8 am. A Cooperative Observer four miles east of Bellville measured a total of 4.30 inches with 4.37 inches measured by an automated gage at Malabar State Park. Runoff from this rain combined with ground already saturated from earlier rains led to catastrophic flooding…

2. Jan 5, 2005Ice Storm, Richland$18.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   For the second time in just over two weeks, a devastating and historic winter storm affected Northern Ohio. Significant ice accumulations occurred over most of the area downing thousands of trees, causing widespread power outages and making travel nearly impossible. Low pressure over Missouri moved rapidly northeast on January 5th. This low moved across eastern Ohio early on January 6th and was responsible for producing a prolonged period of freezing rain. A mixture of rain and snow changed to freezing rain from west to east during the early morning hours of the 5th. Periods of freezing rain then continued for the remainder of the 5th and through the early morning hours of the…

3. Dec 22, 2004Winter Storm, Richland$8.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A record setting winter storm affected northern Ohio on December 22nd and 23rd. The impact and damage caused by this storm has been compared to the Blizzard of January 1978. Low pressure developed over eastern Texas early on the 22nd and then moved quickly northeast. The low eventually tracked across eastern Ohio during the morning hours of the 23rd after dumping nearly two feet of snow on portions of Ohio. The snow began around daybreak on the 22nd and then intensified around midday. Heavy snow with visibilities of a quarter mile or less then persisted into the early morning hours of the 23rd. Snowfall rates much of this time ranged from one to two inches per hour. Winds…

4. Sep 14, 2008High Wind, Richland$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds associated with the remnants of Hurricane Ike began late in the afternoon of September 14th and then continued through much of the evening. A peak gust of 66 mph was measured by an automated sensor at Mansfield Lahm Airport at 5:16 PM EDT. Damage in the county was extensive with thousands of trees and many utility poles downed. Widespread power outages occurred as well with as many as 15,000 utility customers without power at the peak of the storm. Some locations in southern Richland County were without power for as much as ten days. Home and building damage across the county was also extensive. The damage ranged from a few shingles torn off to significant structural…

5. Mar 7, 2008Winter Storm, Richland$2.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snow began across the area during the morning hours of the 7th and continued for the next day and a half. During the daytime on the 7th, visibilities were reduced to a half mile or less at times, but then during the evening hours the snow lightened up considerably. The snow intensified through the overnight hours into the 8th, and moderate to heavy snow continued through the daytime hours before tapering to flurries in the late afternoon and evening. At the end of this event, a trained spotter in Mansfield measured 18.0 inches. At the Mansfield Lahm Airport, 19.7 inches was measured. Winds on the 7th and 8th were gusty causing considerable blowing and drifting of snow. A peak wind…

6. Jul 10, 2013Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Over two weeks of consecutive rain was peaked by torrential rain on the 9th and 10th of July where brought widespread flooding to Richland County. The most impacted towns were Shelby, Mansfield, Ontario, Lexington, Bellville and Butler ���with reported damage to homes and businesses. There was some road damage due to fast moving water. Major flooding at the Pleasant Hill Marina and lake caused evacuation of all campers and boats in that area. Radar estimates put the average rainfall in the county around 4 inches in 48 hours, with locally higher amounts of 6 to 8 inches. The heaviest rain fell over the Black and Clear Forks of the Mohican River, which resulted in widespread…

7. Feb 28, 2011Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Much of Bellville was closed part of the day as water flooded the village's east side. Water surrounded the elementary school and covered the township garage as the Clear Fork rose out of banks. Around 60 water rescues were reported in the Mansfield area. Water damaged commercial businesses around 5th and Main Streets. The main Post Office in Mansfield was flooded.

8. Feb 11, 2009High Wind, Richland$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong cold front moved east across Richland County during the evening of February 11th. Damaging west to southwest winds developed behind the front late in the evening. A peak wind gust of 64 mph was measured by an automated sensor at Mansfield Lahm Airport at 1159 pm. Earlier in the evening, a 66 mph gust was measured at the airport when a line of showers and thunderstorms moved across the county. A gust of 63 mph was measured at 10:19 pm with a 60 mph gust measured at 11:13 pm. Winds finally diminished toward daybreak on the 12th. Ten cars of a moving train were derailed around 11:15 pm. This occurred about halfway between Shiloh and Shelby. No injuries occurred. The strong…

9. Jan 1, 2005Flood, Richland$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain and runoff from snowmelt caused widespread lowland flooding in Ashland, Knox, Morrow, Richland Counties during the first two-thirds of January. January 2005 was the wettest January ever at Mansfield Lahm Airport with 6.08 inches of precipitation during the month. Rainfall totals from Knox County included; 7.51 inches at Greer; 7.97 inches at Fredericktown; 8.28 inches at Danville and 9.99 inches at Centerburg all in Knox County. In addition to this rain, extensive snowpack existed over northern Ohio at the beginning of the month. Temperatures in the 50s the first three days of the month caused a rapid snowmelt and brought area streams and creeks to bankfull just in time…

10. Jun 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    An intense line of thunderstorms or Derecho moved across southern Richland County during the afternoon of June 29th causing extensive damage. Winds were estimated to be as much as 65 mph. Over 50 percent of residents in the southern third to half of the county lost power during this event. Power was not completely restored for several days. Hundreds of trees were downed across the county along with many utility poles forcing the closure of some of roads and streets. Damage to homes and buildings was also extensive. Dozens of homes and buildings lost roofing or siding with many other homes damaged by fallen trees. Clean up costs were extensive. The clean up was hampered by an…

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°FJun 25, 1988

All-time low

−22°F2 times, most recently Jan 19, 1994

Warmest night

79°F2 times, most recently Jun 22, 1988

Coldest day

−7°F2 times, most recently Jan 20, 1985

Wettest day

4.34 inAug 21, 2007

Snowiest day

15.2 inDec 22, 2004

Hottest year

2024mean 54.0°F

Coldest year

1976mean 46.8°F

Wettest year

199067.22 in

Driest year

196321.81 in

Snowiest season

91.0 in1995-96

Station Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport (USW00014891), 1,289 ft elevation, 4.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 99.9% 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 USW00014891.
• 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.