Crawford County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NASA (2).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 18, 2007Flash Flood$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding and mudslides were reported over mainly the northern half of the county. Hardest hit areas were in the steep terrain and along Highway 35 from Lynxville to De Soto. Some roads were closed due to flood waters and in one case a large boulder fell on to Highway 35.||In Crawford County, about 415 people applied for FEMA assistance.

2. Aug 28, 2018Flood$8.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Runoff from heavy rain created historic flooding along the Kickapoo River in Gays Mills. The river established a new crest of record at 22.31 feet, which was over 9 feet above the flood stage. The flooding continued into early September.

3. Sep 22, 2016Flash Flood$5.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A train derailment occurred near Ferryville when flood waters washed out the roadbed. Around 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked out of one locomotive into the water. Runoff from heavy rains also washed out a portion of State Highway 35 south of Lynxville. A mudslide covered a portion of State Highways 35/82 south of De Soto. A mudslide northeast of Wauzeka sent a large boulder onto State Highway 60. State Highway 35 was closed between De Soto and Prairie du Chien due to flooding and mudslides. Roads were damaged across much of the county with the most damage occurring in the townships of Freeman, Utica, Clayton and Haney. Freeman was hit the hardest with every township road…

4. Jun 22, 2013Flash Flood$4.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Locally heavy rain produced flash flooding across portions of Crawford County. Water covered roads in the Steuben area. Mudslides occurred that closed U.S. Highway 61 and State Highway 60 in the southeast part of the county. Other mudslides closed State Highway 35 between Lynxville and Prairie du Chien. Numerous streets and basements were flooded in Prairie du Chien. Homes and businesses were evacuated in Gays Mills and Stueben ahead of the expected flooding along the Kickapoo River.

5. Aug 19, 2007Flood$2.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Kickapoo River at Soldiers Grove established the second highest all-time crest of record when it reached 19.35 feet on August 20. Flood stage is 13 feet.||River flooding in many towns was extensive. Over 400 people applied for FEMA assistance.

6. May 1, 2001Flood, Crawford$2.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Mississippi River crested in April 2001 at levels second only to the all-time flood of record, which occurred in April 1965. Even though water levels were receding, the river remained above flood stage, which continued flooding until the middle of May. High water levels caused damage to homes and businesses, especially in the Prairie du Chien area (Crawford County) and points southward. Due to the extensive damage caused by flood waters, Buffalo, Trempealeau, La Crosse, Vernon, Crawford and Grant County received federal disaster relief funds.

7. Jun 8, 2008Flood$2.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Kickapoo River at Gays Mills reached a record crest of 20.44 feet around 10 a.m. CDT on June 9. The previous record crest of 19.80 feet occurred on July 2, 1978. Flood stage is 13.0 feet. About 175 homes and businesses were flooded.

8. Jun 8, 2008Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Kickapoo River at Steuben crested at a record level of 19.15 feet around 2 a.m. CDT on June 10. The previous record crest of 18.0 feet occurred on July 3, 1978. Flood stage is 12.0 feet.

9. Apr 13, 2001Flood, Crawford$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains, combined with snow melt runoff, caused the Mississippi River to reach near record levels. In fact, at most locations the water reached levels second only to the all-time flood of record, which occurred in April 1965. The Mississippi River at La Crosse (La Crosse County) crested at 16.4 feet on April 18, which was the third all-time highest flood on record. Hardest hit was the Prairie du Chien area (Crawford County) and points southward, where flood waters did considerable damage to businesses and homes. Overall damage due to the high water was estimated around 6 million dollars. This resulted in Buffalo, Trempealeau, La Crosse, Vernon, Crawford and Grant County being…

10. Jun 8, 2008Flood$2.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    The Kickapoo River at Soldiers Grove reached the second highest crest on record of 21.21 feet around 5 a.m. CDT on June 9. The all-time record crest of 21.63 feet was established on July 22, 1951. Flood stage is 13.0 feet. About 50 to 60 homes were flooded. The village park and Highway 131 bridge was badly damaged.

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°F2 times, most recently Aug 17, 1988

All-time low

−43°FJan 30, 1951

Warmest night

86°FJul 14, 1995

Coldest day

−14°FFeb 2, 1996

Wettest day

6.60 inJun 26, 2021

Snowiest day

14.4 inMar 11, 1941

Hottest year

2012mean 52.8°F

Coldest year

1974mean 44.8°F

Wettest year

201954.74 in

Driest year

195817.98 in

Snowiest season

71.6 in1961-62

Station Lynxville Dam 9 (USC00474937), 633 ft elevation, 5.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1939 to October 23, 2026; 97.2% 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 USC00474937.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.