Comanche County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 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. Mar 22, 2016Wildfire, Comanche$30.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The damage values were shared between Comanche and Barber counties.

2. Jul 23, 1996Hail$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   damage to almost every roof in town...windows broken...30 to 50 percent of the crops lost

3. May 8, 1998Strong Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Unknown wind event occurred in the absence of any thunderstorms. The event occurred in an isolated location. Lots of roof damage, numerous windows blown out of houses, bricks blown off buildings, large tree branches blown down. A trampoline was blown onto a garage. A gas meter was blown off a building.

4. Dec 25, 2016Tornado$85,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This QLCS tornado overturned an irrigation sprinkler.

5. Mar 7, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Downburst destroyed a shed and toppled a 75 foot radio tower. An empty fuel tank was carried 400 yards. A camper trailer parked at an oil rig was heavily damaged and the male occupant received a minor injury.

6. May 6, 1998Hail$9,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail swath varying from 2 to 5 miles wide extended from lakin to near montezuma. Wheat and even CRP grass consisting of Little Blue Stem, Indian, Switch and Side Oats were mowed down to the ground. There was no loss on the CRP but there was a total loss on the wheat and corn. There was also substantial property damage to homes, businesses and vehicles.

7. May 5, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Ten power poles snapped 6 feet above the ground.

8. May 14, 1998High Wind, Comanche$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Low level jet mixed to the surface in the vicinity of rain showers. Wind speeds ranged from 52 to 78 knots. All the counties reported tree limbs down. Specifically, power poles were blown down in Coldwater, fence blown down 6W of Larned, part of a roof blown off a garage 2 miles east of Greensburg and a empty cattle trailer blown over 2 miles east of Greensburg.

9. Jul 29, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$5,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to 10 power poles were broken from the high wind.

10. Apr 16, 2003High Wind, Comanche$5,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    High wind of 50 to 70 mph was widespread and caused some minor damage to roofs and billboards across the area.

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

115°F2 times, most recently Aug 13, 1936

All-time low

−18°FJan 12, 1912

Warmest night

86°FAug 3, 1987

Coldest day

−2°FJan 12, 1912

Wettest day

5.25 inMay 8, 2019

Snowiest day

27.0 inMar 28, 2009

Hottest year

2022mean 62.7°F

Coldest year

1912mean 54.3°F

Wettest year

197339.65 in

Driest year

19569.33 in

Snowiest season

45.5 in1911-12

Station Coldwater (USC00141704), 2,113 ft elevation, 3.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 27, 2026; 98.6% 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 USC00141704.
• 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.