Hays

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
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.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

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.

Flood insurance figures are for Ellis County, the county that contains Hays.

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 in Ellis County, the county that contains Hays.

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.

The drought index is for Ellis County, the county that contains Hays.

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 city centre.
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. Aug 23, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The most expensive damage was at Fort Hays State University, where the high winds blew off most of the roof from Weist Hall. Vehicles in an adjacent parking lot were damaged by roof debris. Extensive water damage occurred to the interior of the building. Some students and offices were relocated as a consequence of the damage. |The rainfall was so heavy that drains on Lewis Field were overwhelmed, and water accumulated under the special astro turf covering the field and lifted it from the field. |salvaged.

2. Jun 28, 2003Hail$1.5 million
3. Oct 16, 1998Tornado$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado that began in eastern Trego county, steadily moved northeast before dissipating north of Hays. The tornado hit several farms in rural Ellis county and slammed into sparsely populated Yocemento. After leaving Yocemento, the tornado tore through a feedyard and on across other parts of rural Ellis county. Fortunately, the tornado stayed just west and north of populated Hays where a high school football game was in progress. The tornado damaged or destroyed 10 homes, a grain elevator, many outbuildings, a tractor and a feedlot. During the weaker moments of the tornado, it moved a 14,000 pound tractor 30 yards. One modular constructed home on a concrete slab was completely…

4. Jun 7, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The city manager reported multiple buildings destroyed and numerous buildings with partial damage. Forty percent of the headstones in the cemetery were turned over by the high wind. Also, big trees were snapped.

5. May 24, 1998Hail$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Much of the wheat and corn were mowed down.

6. Apr 10, 2001Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado moved in from Trego county at 2209 and moved into Rooks county at 2238. It took out 50 power poles in Ellis county and damaged 13 farms. Roofs were removed on several homes and there was extensive damage done to several outbuildings and trailers. Two semis were overturned on I-70 west of Ellis causing several minor injuries. Reports of the infamous "roar" were noted in the Ellis community.

7. Sep 4, 2016Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Water about 80 yards wide was rushing over several roads along Little Big Creek.

8. Apr 6, 1998Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was damage to a metal building and a quonset hut. Two young boys were injured when the door blew off of the building. A chicken house blew away.

9. Apr 20, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$30,000
10. Jul 13, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$15,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    roof blown off building...fence blown down...tree down...6 inch limbs down.

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

117°FJul 13, 1934

All-time low

−26°F2 times, most recently Feb 13, 1905

Warmest night

88°FSep 5, 1897

Coldest day

−8°FJan 6, 1912

Wettest day

5.64 inSep 11, 2003

Snowiest day

12.0 in4 times, most recently Dec 15, 2007

Hottest year

1934mean 58.0°F

Coldest year

1951mean 50.6°F

Wettest year

195143.34 in

Driest year

19569.21 in

Snowiest season

58.2 in1902-03

Station Hays 1 S (USC00143527), 2,010 ft elevation, 1.8 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1892 to September 30, 2026; 99.4% 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.

Declarations for Ellis County.

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.

• 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 USC00143527.
• 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.