Sedgwick County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Sedgwick County: 2.
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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 20, 2001High Wind, Sedgwick County$691,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Intense winds developed as a vigorous cold front, accompanied by a line of thunderstorms, spilled over the Cheyenne Ridge and moved rapidly across the Urban Corridor and Northeast Plains. Peak wind gusts to 83 mph (72 kts) downed trees and power lines. Approximately 32,000 Xcel customers in Weld, Boulder, Lafayette, Littleton, central Denver and Aurora were without electricity for up to two hours. Zero visibilities were reported due to blowing dust, dirt and other flying debris. As a result, a multi-vehicle accident occured along U.S. Highway 85, between Greeley and Fort Lupton. Six people were treated for minor injuries. Several vehicles, including semi trailers, were reportedly…

2. Jun 11, 2007Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A slow moving low pressure system allowed for heavy rain to fall over parts of Northeastern Colorado, affecting primarily Sedgwick and Phillips Counties. Severe thunderstorms produce large hail and very heavy rain. Downed power lines were reported over parts of Sedgwick County on the 11th. Farmers in the area reported extensive flooding over southeastern Sedwick County from around Sixteen-mile Corner east to the Nebraska state line. Several basements were also flooded. ||In addition, extensive flooding and flash flooding forced dozens of road closures in northeast Phillips County. Colorado Highway 23; east of Amherst, and U.S. Highway 6; east of Holyoke, were closed due to…

3. Jun 12, 2007Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A slow moving low pressure system allowed for heavy rain to fall over parts of Northeastern Colorado, affecting primarily Sedgwick and Phillips Counties. Severe thunderstorms produce large hail and very heavy rain. Downed power lines were reported over parts of Sedgwick County on the 11th. Farmers in the area reported extensive flooding over southeastern Sedwick County from around Sixteen-mile Corner east to the Nebraska state line. Several basements were also flooded. ||In addition, extensive flooding and flash flooding forced dozens of road closures in northeast Phillips County. Colorado Highway 23; east of Amherst, and U.S. Highway 6; east of Holyoke, were closed due to…

4. Apr 20, 2001High Wind, Sedgwick And Phillips Counties$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High winds, a product of an intense surface pressure gradient and strong thunderstorm outflow, caused significant damage 12 miles southeast of Holyoke. The owner of a feedlot, suffered damage to his home as well as his feedlot facilities. The wind, estimated up to 90 mph (78 kts) broke the eave on the roof of his home, allowing rain to pour into the residence, down a wall and into the basement. The wind also toppled an irrigation sprinkler and two portable calf barns in a nearby field. One of the calf barns was thrown 200 yards, with pieces of the building dropped a quarter of a mile away. Damage to his property alone was estimated at $60,000. Another farmer lost two grain bins.…

5. Apr 23, 2015Tornado$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down briefly. A grain bin was destroyed and a power pole was knocked down.

6. Aug 29, 2011Flash Flood$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm produced minor flash flooding.

7. Jul 14, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A severe thunderstorm producing very strong winds, flipped over a section of irrigation pivot.

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

110°F2 times, most recently Jun 27, 2012

All-time low

−30°FDec 22, 1989

Warmest night

79°FJul 30, 1999

Coldest day

−10°F2 times, most recently Dec 21, 1990

Wettest day

5.00 inMay 5, 1969

Snowiest day

18.0 in2 times, most recently Jan 19, 1988

Hottest year

1999mean 53.0°F

Coldest year

2008mean 46.1°F

Wettest year

200928.14 in

Driest year

20129.53 in

Snowiest season

95.5 in1983-84

Station Sedgwick 5 S (USC00057515), 3,996 ft elevation, 12.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1952 to October 26, 2026; 98.5% 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 USC00057515.
• 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.