Van Wert County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Van Wert County: 2.
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.

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. Nov 10, 2002Tornado$30.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado touched down in the southwest corner of Van Wert County about 4 miles northeast of Willshire and moved northeast across the western portion of the city of Van Wert, and then crossed U.S. 30 and continued northeast before exiting the county about 7 miles east of Scott. NWS ground and aerial surveys showed the tornado quickly intensified to F4 about 5 miles southwest of the city of Van Wert near Zook road, where a 75 year old male was killed in his home. The tornado continued moving northeast as an F4 into the city of Van Wert, were it hit the Twin Cinemas and the Vision Industrial Park. At this point the tornado was about one half mile wide. 60 persons watching a movie…

2. Mar 31, 2006Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado was likely produced as the result of a line of thunderstorms overtaking an isolated supercell thunderstorm ahead of the line. The circulation which produced the tornado intensified shortly after the merger of the line and isolated supercell. The tornado developed near the intersection of Burris Road and Walnut Grove Church Road about 1 mile south of Ohio City. The tornado tracked to the east-northeast for roughly 2 miles before dissipating near Greenville Rd about 2 miles east of Ohio City. Damage along the first half of the tornado track was consistent with F2 intensity, with winds estimated at 140-150 mph and an initial path width of about 300 yards. In this area, 3…

3. Jul 7, 2003Flood, Van Wert$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The St. Marys river at Willshire went into flood upstream of Decatur, IN where a record crest occurred. 41 homes had some damage with 6 businesses and a church damaged as well.

4. Jul 10, 2017Flash Flood$425,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several rounds of thunderstorms dropped anywhere from three to over six inches of rain onto already saturated ground in the southeastern part of the county. This caused extensive flooding, with several creeks, streams and ditches going over their banks. Jennings Creek overflowed its banks and surrounded a factory on the southwest side of Delphos, forcing employees to shelter in place with the only means of egress being a nearby train track. Several county roads were closed across the area, but no washouts were reported. Emergency management officials report that 12 homes and 3 businesses were impacted, with total damage of around $425,000.

5. Aug 21, 2007Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency Management officials reported that all bridges and most roads were closed in Hoaglin and Jackson townships as a result of flowing water over many roads as well as water approaching the bottom of bridges. Property damage is estimated at $250,000.

6. May 30, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A swath of damage from winds measured as high as around 80 mph damaged several structures including a garage, barn and 2 grain bins. Several wooden power poles were also snapped. Damage in the area is estimated at $200,000.

7. Nov 6, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees reported down across the county. A metal barn was destroyed, with another knocked over. A semi was reported blown over on US 30. Surveys from local emergency and NWS officials found evidence of the formation of gustnadoes where concentrated areas of damage were observed.

8. Jun 22, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread trees and power lines down. All roads closed in town due to being blocked by downed trees and power lines. Numerous homes and barns sustained structural damage, both from wind, and from falling trees. A grain elevator sustained significant damage, and the village's communication system was destroyed.

9. Jul 18, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two barns were severely damaged, a grain bin was destroyed, and a three car garage was moved one foot off its foundation just east of Dixon. Also, numerous trees were downed This storm also produced up to golf ball size hail near Van Wert.

10. Jun 1, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Emergency management officials surveyed a concentrated area of damage, appearing to be the result of a micro-burst. Within a roughly one mile square area, one barn roof was blown off, three aluminum and one wooden barn door were damaged, several 100 year old trees were blown down by the winds. Also, around 20 structures suffered mainly shingle damage. Damage is estimated at $75,000.

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°FJul 14, 1936

All-time low

−24°FJan 15, 1893

Warmest night

87°FJun 6, 1899

Coldest day

−10°F2 times, most recently Jan 19, 1994

Wettest day

6.35 inAug 21, 2007

Snowiest day

10.1 inDec 17, 1996

Hottest year

1998mean 54.5°F

Coldest year

2014mean 47.7°F

Wettest year

201556.32 in

Driest year

198824.69 in

Snowiest season

83.0 in1977-78

Station Van Wert 1 S (USC00338609), 790 ft elevation, 0.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 98.0% 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 USC00338609.
• 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.