Kingsbury County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Kingsbury 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 24, 2003Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado destroyed or heavily damaged all buildings, other structures, and vehicles in the small town of Manchester. Propane and fuel oil tanks were destroyed. Many homes were stripped to the foundation. Of the six residents of the town, four were injured and were transported to hospitals. Three were deemed to be seriously injured, but non of the injuries were life threatening. One of the injured was in a basement, one was blown out of the home on the way to the same basement, and two were in a mobile home which was destroyed. The tornado damaged crops, trees, and power lines south of Manchester prior to reaching the town. The tornado also heavily damaged several farms north of…

2. May 17, 2000Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail caused extenseive broken windows to both buildings and vehicles, dented many vehicles, and damaged roofs and sidings of homes. Crop damage was also reported, but the amount of the damage could not be determined.

3. Apr 1, 2011Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding of lakes and lowlands, including farmland, continued in the county through April. While flooding of small streams abated, lake flooding, particularly of Lakes Thompson and Henry, worsened. Numerous roads remained flooded and several were closed. Several homes were flooded, especially along Lake Thompson. High water and groundwater levels resulting from record precipitation in the previous year was the main reason that the flooding either grew worse or improved so slowly.

4. Nov 27, 2005Ice Storm, Kingsbury$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…

5. Jul 28, 2002Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail broke windows, and heavily damaged vehicles and boats. Holes were punched by the hail in some of the boats. Two boaters on Lake Thompson were injured by the hail. One was taken to the hospital with a head injury, and the other suffered several welts on the back from hailstone hits. Crop damage also occurred, but the amount of crop damage was not known.

6. Jul 28, 2002Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail broke numerous windows in buildings and vehicles in Oldham and rural areas nearby, and caused other damage to vehicles. The hail also caused or along with severe winds contributed to widespread crop damage in the area, with some crops totally destroyed. The amount of crop damage, as well as the part of the crop damage due to hail, could not be determined. However, thousands of acres were believed to be affected.

7. Mar 13, 2019Flood$370,000
   National Weather Service narrative

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

8. Jun 26, 2010Hail$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread large hail, with numerous stones to baseball size, fell along a narrow path several miles long which included the town of De Smet. The hail heavily damaged numerous vehicles, denting vehicle bodies and smashing or cracking windows, and also heavily damaged roofs on homes and other buildings. Damage to siding and to windows on buildings was limited because the hail was accompanied by light winds. The hail damaged lights at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant site. One large hailstone punched a hole in the roof of a metal building. Crop damage was suspected in the area, but the amount of crop damage was not known.

9. Jul 28, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm winds caused widespread tree damage. The winds also blew down power lines and poles, including many in the town of Oldham. The winds, along with large hail, contributed to widespread crop damage, with some corn and soybean crops totally destroyed. The amount of crop damage, as well as the part due to the winds, could not be determined. However, thousands of acres were believed to be affected.

10. Jul 25, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorm winds caused widespread tree, power line, and pole damage. The winds also damaged a car wash under construction, blew down road signs, and broke windows. Some vehicles were damaged, mainly by trees or tree debris.

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

111°FJul 21, 1934

All-time low

−44°FJan 12, 1912

Warmest night

80°F3 times, most recently Jul 19, 2011

Coldest day

−26°F2 times, most recently Feb 8, 1899

Wettest day

4.65 inAug 5, 2023

Snowiest day

18.0 inNov 6, 1947

Hottest year

2012mean 50.3°F

Coldest year

1951mean 41.4°F

Wettest year

201942.12 in

Driest year

193311.10 in

Snowiest season

97.7 in2018-19

Station De Smet (USC00392302), 1,700 ft elevation, 7.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 19, 2026; 98.3% 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 USC00392302.
• 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.