Hanson County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 20, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused widespread damage to homes, trailers, barns, other structures, trees, and vehicles at the Oak Lane Hutterite colony south of Alexandria. Three people were injured when their trailer home was flipped and damaged.

2. May 30, 1998Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large and strengthening tornado destroyed buildings and other property on five farms and also destroyed trees and power lines before crossing the eastern edge of Hanson County.

3. Nov 27, 2005Ice Storm, Hanson$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy freezing rain coated roads, trees, power lines, and most other objects with ice up to 3 inches thick. Travel quickly became difficult to impossible. Many roads including Interstate Highways 90 and 29 were closed for extended periods of time. Most schools and businesses were forced to close. Electric power was lost over widespread areas when many miles of power lines and thousands of poles were knocked down, with more damaged. Strong winds which accompanied the ice storm and the immediately following blizzard combined with the weight of the ice to bring down many of the power lines and poles. Tens of thousands of households and businesses lost power, with the time power was…

4. Sep 11, 2019Flood$510,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   September 10-12 brought up to 8.30 inches of rainfall at Alexandria, producing widespread areal flooding. The spillway at Hanson Lake washed out and damaged the roadway below the spillway. Numerous state, county and township roads were impassable due to water, including State Highway 42 east of Ethan. The property damage costs include estimates for public property losses. Flooding also resulted in crop losses across the area. Crop loss estimates provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.

5. Apr 1, 2011Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major flooding of the James River, as well as flooding of small streams and lakes in the county, continued through April. Much farmland remained flooded, both near to and away from the James River. The James River was at its highest on April 1st, and fell very slowly during the month. A large area of land and numerous roads were flooded at the start of the month. Water was running over other roads, from flooded streams, creeks, and fields as well as from the James River. Many roads were heavily damaged. Some homes and businesses were also flooded, with the flooding of these places slowly alleviating through the month. High water and groundwater levels from record precipitation in…

6. Jun 20, 2024Flood$251,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall amounts across Hanson County from June 20-22 ranged from 6 to 8 inches. Overland flooding ensued with additional major flooding along the James River. Several roads were closed and damaged due to flooding. Preliminary damage assessments estimate loss to public infrastructure across the county to be 251 thousand dollars. The majority of overland flooding subsided by June 25, but river flooding continued through the end of the month. For additional information on river flooding, please see other flood entries for Hanson County.

7. Mar 13, 2019Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding resulted in damage to public infrastructure including county and township roads and culverts.

8. Nov 28, 2005Blizzard, Hanson$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snowfall varying from 4 to 15 inches combined with winds gusting over 50 mph to produce blizzard conditions. The heaviest snowfalls were mostly near and west of the James River, in the area where a severe ice storm immediately preceded the blizzard. Several reports of 6 to 8 foot drifts were received from this area. Visibilities were lowered frequently to zero and travel was made impossible in many areas. Roads, including Interstate Highways 90 and 29 were closed for extended periods of time. Most schools and businesses that were not already closed because of the ice storm were forced to close. The winds during the blizzard continued to bring down power lines and poles, most of…

9. May 5, 2007Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rainfall caused flooding of low areas including fields, homes, businesses, schools, roads, streams, and bridges. The flooding was a longer term event than flash flooding, which also had resulted. Long term major flooding of the James River also resulted. Some parks and other recreation areas were affected. A few roads and bridges were washed out by the high water. The flooding delayed planting of crops in some areas.

10. Jun 9, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorm winds destroyed a mobile home, causing minor injuries to the couple inside at the time. The winds also caused damage to trees and sheds.

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

114°F3 times, most recently Jul 24, 1940

All-time low

−41°FJan 12, 1912

Warmest night

94°FJun 30, 1911

Coldest day

−22°FJan 1, 2018

Wettest day

5.83 inApr 30, 1942

Snowiest day

19.0 in2 times, most recently Mar 2, 2007

Hottest year

1987mean 52.1°F

Coldest year

2019mean 43.4°F

Wettest year

201940.13 in

Driest year

198011.01 in

Snowiest season

80.3 in1961-62

Station Alexandria (USC00390128), 1,354 ft elevation, 1.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 22, 2026; 92.7% 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 USC00390128.
• 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.