Kit Carson County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 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.

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. Apr 22, 2026Wildfire, Kit Carson County$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wildfire started near MM 392, one and a half miles west of Flagler, north of I-70 near the railroad. The railroad bridge nearby was a total loss. The fire risk continued for days afterward from the creasode in the railroad ties smoldering. Westbound traffic was closed on the order of minutes at Siebert due to smoke blowing across the highway. The fire ended up being 364 acres in size.

2. Jun 28, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe microburst destroyed two airport hangars and damaged several aircraft inside. The only hangars destroyed were those oriented north-south. Another hangar nearby received only minor damage. Peak winds measured were from the west.

3. Jul 27, 1997Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to golfball size hail with 20 mph winds damaged roofs, windows, siding, and autos.

4. Jun 2, 2008Hail$325,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A report relayed from CoCoRAHS indicated leaves were shredded. Also, cars were dented and roof shingles were damaged.

5. Jun 16, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A farmstead received severe wind damage as an intense Rear Flank Downdraft swept across Kit Carson county about 8 miles north of Stratton. An unoccupied trailer home, barn and grain bin were destroyed, and damage occurred to several vehicles and numerous light poles. Cattle feeders were also damaged, and a total of three irrigation pivots in the area were toppled.

6. Jul 29, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A number of buildings in Seibert sustained damage. The post office roof had roughly half the shingles blown off. One machine shed was completely destroyed, with the foundation blown clean. A second machine shed, that was built using concrete blocks, only had a third of the roof blown off. A building in town had the entire roof blown off. A pine tree was uprooted and resting on the house next to it. A small machine shed was flipped over and blown onto a road in town. There were also many homes with vinyl siding destroyed on the windward side of the home from the hail and wind.

7. Mar 24, 2017Winter Storm, Kit Carson County$203,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to a foot of snow was reported in the far southwest portion of the county. The combination of wind gusts around 60 MPH and the wet, heavy snow caused over one hundred power poles to be broken from County Rd 21 west to County Rd 3 in the southwest portion of the county. Power poles running north and south were not broken. Visibility fell to a quarter mile or less at times in the blowing snow.

8. Sep 1, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$170,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Intense straight line winds due to the microburst first occurred at 8:12 PM MDT near the Burlington airport. This began an area of intermittent damage consistent with wind speeds in the 100-115 mph range. The most intense winds occurred over an area 4.2 miles long and 600 yards wide, ending near Interstate 70 and the Kit Carson Correctional facility. The most significant damage occurred near the Burlington airport where a large evergreen tree was snapped at the trunk and near the Kit Carson Correctional Facility where four power poles were snapped and a nearby outbuilding was destroyed. Damage due to winds in the 60-80 mph range continued to the north of Interstate 70. Additional…

9. Aug 15, 2008Flood$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Observer reported 5.35 inches of rain in 90 minutes which resulted in low land flooding, numerous flooded basements and county roads becoming impassible in northern Kit Carson and southern Yuma counties. This precipitation fell on already saturated soils after a week of heavy rain episodes.

10. Jun 3, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorm microburst winds estimated around 90 mph rolled and destroyed mobile home with man inside sustaining cuts and bruises. Another home in the vicinity suffered roof damage. Part of a shed wall was ripped apart and another part buckled. An empty grain bin was lifted and tossed into a tree windbreak. There was minor damage to trees and corrals.

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

113°FJul 27, 2026

All-time low

−25°FJan 4, 1959

Warmest night

83°FJul 5, 1930

Coldest day

−8°F2 times, most recently Feb 4, 1989

Wettest day

4.00 inOct 19, 1908

Snowiest day

19.2 inOct 26, 1997

Hottest year

1934mean 55.8°F

Coldest year

1909mean 48.0°F

Wettest year

200930.85 in

Driest year

19546.18 in

Snowiest season

101.5 in1983-84

Station Burlington (USC00051121), 4,162 ft elevation, 10.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1903 to October 27, 2026; 95.3% 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 USC00051121.
• 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.