Cheyenne County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

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. Oct 25, 1997Blizzard, Cheyenne$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snowfall of 10 to 24 inches accompanied by 50 to 60 mph winds produced widespread blizzard conditions with near zero visibility and wind chills to 20 degrees below zero. It was the largest one day snowfall on record at the Goodland NWS office with 19.3 inches. Other snowfall amounts were St. Francis 11 inches, Bird City 19, McDonald 16, Atwood 14, Oberlin 17, Norcatur 24, Dresden 17, Lenora 22, Norton 12, Densmore 21, Colby 20, Rexford 11, Mingo 18, Hoxie 18, Morland 16, St. Peter 18, Hill City 12, Sharon Springs 19, Oakley 12, Winona 20, Gove 9, Grainfield 8, Quinter 12, Tribune 22, Leoti 13. Drifts 6 to 12 feet were common. An estimated 6200 head of cattle were killed. The Air…

2. Mar 28, 2007Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado tracked from Sherman county through most of Cheyenne county with a total path length of 34 miles. The tornado was on the ground for 62 minutes and produced F1-F2 damage along much of its path. In Cheyenne county, four homes were affected, all having lost the entire roof and some with outside wall damage. Tree and power pole damage was extensive as well as significant property damage including garages, outbuildings, grain bins and livestock. The tornado tracked almost straight north along Road 30 for most of its length in Cheyenne county, and then at Road U the tornado veered left and dissipated near Roads AA and 26. The tornado began at the Sherman county line near…

3. Apr 14, 2011Blizzard, Cheyenne$437,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Six inches of snow fell with winds of 40 to 50 mph, reducing visibility below one quarter mile. According to newspaper reports, 50 power poles were downed in Cheyenne county as a result of the wet snow and strong wind. Crews from nearby counties assisted Cheyenne County in the restoration.

4. May 18, 2025Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado formed south of farmstead near River Road, made a glancing blow to the farmstead, then continued NNW toward Hwy 36. Power poles were broken, a well established cotton wood tree was uprooted, and a well anchored antenna was twisted and bent by the tornado. Another farmstead north of CR M was also impacted by the tornado. The tornado removed the roof and doors from a metal building, relocated a couple grain bins, and leveled a wooden shed. However the tornado turned away from house before continuing north through the windbreak. The tornado ended before reaching the highway.

5. Jun 8, 2026Lightning$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck a nearly 100 year old church northwest of St. Francis. The church was completely engulfed in flames by the time fire crews arrived at the church. No surrounding structures were burned.

6. Jul 26, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$160,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms wind gusts estimated to be 90 mph snapped power poles at the intersection of Highway 27 and County Road D. The irrigation field also located near by the intersection had an irrigation pivot flipped.

7. Jul 26, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm with estimated 90 mph straight line winds gusts flipped and destroyed a 5th wheel camper and a bumper pull camper. An outbuilding and tree were also damaged. All debris was reported to be scattered to the east.

8. Aug 15, 2004Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning stuck a rural farm house 3 miles south of Wheeler, KS during the night. The house burned completely to the ground. The house was built in 1895 but had been remodeled several times over the years.

9. Aug 4, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$90,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense microbust wind event occurred Sunday evening in the town of St Francis, resulting in a damage swath approximately 5 blocks wide and a mile long. Winds estimated at 100 mph swept through town from southeast to northwest over a ten minute period. A small business lost its roof, a semi-trailer was overturned and a local car dealership suffered window damage to 45 vehicles in addition to the store front window. A large camper trailer was rolled several times and destroyed. A carport was destroyed, and several barns and numerous homes sustained roof damage. Witnesses reported a thunderstorm in progress, when suddenly a loud roar developed, accompanied by wind damage.

10. Jul 19, 2010Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Significant wind damage occurred in St Francis as severe thunderstorms moved east across the county. Large trees were blown onto roofs, and a garage and carport were destroyed. The roof of a business downtown was blow off. Numerous trees and tree branches were blown down with some vehicle damage reported.

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

111°F2 times, most recently Jul 24, 1940

All-time low

−31°F2 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Warmest night

78°FJul 16, 1934

Coldest day

−7°FFeb 5, 1989

Wettest day

4.52 inMay 27, 1915

Snowiest day

15.0 inFeb 18, 1984

Hottest year

2012mean 56.4°F

Coldest year

1912mean 48.7°F

Wettest year

192333.20 in

Driest year

19549.99 in

Snowiest season

74.9 in1979-80

Station Saint Francis (USC00147093), 3,336 ft elevation, 3.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1908 to June 21, 2026; 91.9% 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 USC00147093.
• 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.