Live
Active alerts for this county
Heat Advisory
Atchison; Miami; Linn; Doniphan; Leavenworth; Wyandotte; Johnson; Atchison; Nodaway; Worth; Gentry; Harrison; Mercer; Putnam; Schuyler; Holt; Andrew; De Kalb; Daviess; Grundy; Sullivan; Adair; Buchanan; Clinton; Caldwell; Livingston; Linn; Macon; Platte; Clay; Ray; Carroll; Chariton; Randolph; Jackson; Lafayette; Saline; Howard; Cass; Johnson; Pettis; Cooper; Bates; Henry
Atchison County, Missouri severe weather history spans 340 recorded events between 1954 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 47.4% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,555 nationally and #68 in Missouri.
340
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$7.0M
Property damage
The record
What the Atchison County, Missouri severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Atchison County, Missouri severe weather history averages 4.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 127 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 42 events fall before 1990 and 298 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is flood, with $5.1M in reported property damage. In total, 6 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Atchison County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 161 | 0 | $1.1M | 2.75 | 1967–2024 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 131 | 0 | $191K | 80 | 1956–2024 |
| Tornado | 19 | 0 | $660K | F4 | 1954–2024 |
| Flood | 17 | 0 | $5.1M | 0 | 2007–2019 |
| Flash Flood | 11 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2016 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2025–2025 |
Decade by decade
Atchison County, Missouri severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
22 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 21 touched down inside it and 1 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954-04-05 | EF4 | 0 | 2 | 6.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1979-08-28 | EF3 | 2 | 14 | 38.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 1966-05-23 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-07-08 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1955-04-23 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1954-05-31 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 21.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1996-05-08 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1968-04-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1968-04-16 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1958-07-27 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The Tarkio River near Fairfax crested at 25.78 feet, or 8.78 feet above flood stage. This was its highest crest ever and occurred on May 7, 2007. Major flooding in the communities of Fairfax and Tarkio. Numerous homes and businesses suffered flood damage. A levee break just upstream of Fairfax contributed to the flood damage.
An EF1 tornado entered Atchison County at 18:59CST 2.3 miles east southeast of Milton. It proceeded north northeast and dissipated 1.3 miles east southeast of Tarkio. It damaged 5 sheds and destroyed 3 grain bins. Several power poles were also snapped off.
A severe thunderstorm moved northward through Atchison County from near Langdon through Phelps City through Linden and to the Iowa border. Property damage estimated at 50,000 dollars occurred along along Route 275 and County Road T. Numerous large trees were downed as a result of the winds and several farms reported damage to barns and grain bins. The most severe damage occurred at a farmstead on County Road T about 7 miles south of the Iowa border. Two farm houses had portions of the roof removed from the winds and falling trees damaged the southwest section of the house. One of the barns was completely leveled on the property. The property damage here alone was approximately 40,000 dollars.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
5,187
Population (ACS)
$107K
Median home value
23
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 26, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jul 9, 2019 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| May 20, 2019 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Aug 7, 2015 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Oct 31, 2014 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Atchison County, Missouri?
340 events are on record between 1954 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $7.0M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Atchison County?
Hail, with 161 recorded events — 47.4% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Atchison County?
22 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 21 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Atchison County?
23 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Atchison County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Atchison County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Atchison County as very low risk, placing it in the 22 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Atchison County, Missouri severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Andrew County 267
- Audrain County 346
- Adair County 294
- Barry County 1,021
- Barton County 604
- Bates County 362
Cite this page
“Atchison County, Missouri.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/missouri/atchison-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.