Lawrence

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.

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 Douglas County, the county that contains Lawrence.

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 Douglas County, the county that contains Lawrence.

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 Douglas County, the county that contains Lawrence.

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.

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. Mar 12, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large portion of the city sustained damage. The governor issued a State of Disaster Emergency for Douglas County. At least three direct storm related injuries were reported. Windows were blown out of numerous cars and businesses. A trailer park also sustained damage. Numerous telephone poles and trees were blown down. Many trees and cars on the Kansas University campus were damaged. More than 70 of Kansas University's 116 buildings received some damage. Many homes in the city also sustained damage. Video of the event indicated a microburst with winds of 70 to 90 mph. Several notable events reflected the severity of the wind damage. A heating/cooling unit was blown from the roof…

2. May 8, 2003Tornado$6.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in the southwest part of Lawrence and did considerable damage to the area. An apartment complex suffered major damage as did several other homes and residences in the area. Six people were injured and treated at a Lawrence hospital.

3. Apr 23, 2006Hail$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Between 8:50 pm cst and 9:03 pm cst, many reports of hail ranging from 0.75" to 2.50" in diameter were received from the city of Lawrence as a supercell thunderstorm moved through. The largest reported hail fell on the campus of Kansas University. State Farm Insurance reported an expected $1.8 million in auto claims for damaged vehicles; American Family Insurance was expecting up to 600 auto claims and 300 home claims to be filed.

4. Nov 1, 1998Flash Flood$2.5 million
5. Jun 5, 1996Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall of around 8 inches in about 24 hours produced widespread severe flash flooding in and around the city of Lawrence during the late night and early morning hours. At least 2 cars were swept off 23rd street into Naismith creek, and occupants of the cars had to be rescued by emergency crews. One of the cars was in a vertical position at the bridge trapping the person inside who nearly drown before being rescued. Flood waters covered nearly all city streets at one time or another, and stalled cars were numerous. The high waters even closed Interstate 70 for about 2 hours 3 miles west of Lawrence. Three injuries were attributed to the flash flooding which was considered the…

6. Oct 4, 1998Flash Flood$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms from the afternoon of the 4th to the early morning of the 5th produced heavy rains and flash flooding across counties of northeast and east central Kansas.There were numerous reports of road closures, stalled vehicles and stranded motorists. Road closures included US Highway 24 from Williamstown to Midland Junction, Highway 31 between US highway 75 and Osage City as well as some county roads over the area. Seven people were stranded near Ottawa after their vehicles were swept off the road. All were rescued. Two boys were rescued from high water near Ottawa. Officers rescued 5 people and two dogs stranded in high waters near Lawrence. Some streets in Emporia and…

7. Jan 29, 2002Winter Storm, Douglas$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major winter storm struck all of north central...northeast and east central Kansas in late January. Freezing rain mixed at times with sleet occurred across east central Kansas from the early evening of January 29 into the morning of January 31. The freezing rain accumulated as much as an inch and a half of glaze which caused considerable power line and tree damage. Many residents remained without power well into February. Several buildings collapsed under the weight of the ice doing considerable damage to the contents. A boat marina at Lake Perry collapsed under the weight of the ice and damaged or destroyed 19 boats. Northeast Kansas received mostly snow from the night of the…

8. Mar 24, 1997Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail produced widespread damage to cars including more than 600 at automobile dealerships. The hail combined with strong winds to damage a total of 17 windows at two sets of apartments. Most of the damage occurred on the north side of town where the hail reached the size of golf balls.

9. May 2, 2008Tornado$260,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado demolished and removed a garage and two-thirds of an unoccupied house from it's foundation just after touching down. Debris from the house and the garage was strewn across a nearby field for approximately 500 yards. A metal outbuilding was destroyed near the end of the tornado path. Between these two points, moderate tree damage was noted.

10. May 7, 2007Flood$255,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Report that several county roads are closed due to water covering the roads. Also several road closures within Lawrence city limits. Report of a non-emergency water rescue for a resident who had water all around their house. Lowland flooding along immediate reach of the Kansas River due to moderate or greater flooding.

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°F2 times, most recently Aug 14, 1936

All-time low

−25°FFeb 12, 1899

Warmest night

86°FAug 14, 1936

Coldest day

−7°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

7.23 inSep 7, 1909

Snowiest day

20.0 inMar 23, 1912

Hottest year

2012mean 60.6°F

Coldest year

1869mean 51.8°F

Wettest year

199361.67 in

Driest year

201220.17 in

Snowiest season

36.1 in1978-79

Station Lawrence (USC00144559), 1,047 ft elevation, 0.9 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1868 to October 25, 2026; 85.8% 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 Douglas 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 USC00144559.
• 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.