Cowley County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Cowley County: 77.
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.

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

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.

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. Nov 1, 1998Flood, Cowley$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread heavy rains of 6-10 inches inundated South-Central and Southeast Kansas from the evening of October 30th thru November 1st while 4-8 inches drenched Central Kansas. As a result, record flooding occurred along the following rivers:Whitewater River: At Towanda: crest: 30.53 feet on 11/01/98. (Old record: 29.73 feet on 06/08/79). At Augusta: crest: 34.95 feet on 11/01/98. (Old record: 32.70 feet on 06/08/79).Arkansas River: At Derby: crest: 16.60 feet on 11/01/98. (Old record: 16.19 feet on 07/15/93). At Arkansas City, 28.89 feet on 11/03/98. (Old record: 27.62 feet on 05/11/93).Walnut River: At Arkansas City: crest: 32.45 feet on 11/03/98. (Old record: 29.22 feet on…

2. Mar 27, 2009Winter Storm, Cowley$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wintry mix of light to moderate sleet and freezing rain affected the county from the mid morning hours on the 27th through the early morning hours on the 28th. The wintry mix eventually changed over to all snow from west to east during the morning hours on the 28th, and persisted into the afternoon hours. Sleet accumulations ranged from 1 to 4 inches, highest over western and northern portions of the county. Additionally, ice accumulated one-quarter to three-quarters of an inch countywide due to freezing rain. Snowfall accumulations on top of the sleet and ice ranged from 1 to 3 inches, heaviest over western and northern portions of the county, where stout north to northeast…

3. Apr 28, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   EQUIPMENT DISABLED AT TIME PEAK GUST OCCURRED. NUMEROUS ROOFS BLOWN OFF BUILDINGS AND HOMES. ONE CAR FLIPPED OVER ONTO IT'S ROOF. TREES AND POWER LINES DOWNED.

4. Jun 1, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight line winds produced widespread damage across the Arkansas City area. The strong winds downed numerous trees and power lines/poles, inflicted roof damage to several homes and businesses, and blew over a few semi trailers. Several grave stones at the local cemetary were damaged, and 69 power poles and 24 transformers were damaged or destroyed across the Arkansas City area.|

5. Jul 20, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large grain bins along Highway 77 about 5 miles south of Rock were heavily damaged. One grain bin collapsed completely, and the top half of another bin caved in substantially. Additionally, numerous trees were downed across mainly western portions of the county.

6. Apr 28, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   AT ARKANSAS CITY, MIDDLE SCHOOL GYMNASIUM ROOF CRUSHED.

7. Jun 8, 1998Tornado$500,000
8. Jun 13, 1998Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Minor damage inflicted to a few homes on south side of Burden.

9. Jul 1, 2007Flash Flood$320,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Extremely heavy rainfall from the end of June into early July caused flash flooding throughout Cowley County. The flash flooding and the ensuing river flooding resulted in roughly 320 thousand dollars in damage. Major flooding was observed on the Walnut River at Winfield with a crest of 35.79 feet recorded the evening of July 1st. This was 17.79 feet above flood stage. The Walnut River at Winfield remained above flood stage until July 3rd. Moderate flooding was also observed on the Walnut River and the Arkansas River at Arkansas City.

10. Apr 3, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Rubbermaid plant lost 100 feet of roofing.

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

112°FJul 30, 2012

All-time low

−20°FFeb 10, 2011

Warmest night

85°FJul 29, 2012

Coldest day

1°FFeb 15, 2021

Wettest day

6.28 inJun 6, 2019

Hottest year

2012mean 62.1°F

Coldest year

1997mean 56.3°F

Wettest year

201961.85 in

Driest year

200121.37 in

Station Winfield Strother Field Airport (USW00013932), 1,152 ft elevation, 2.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1996 to October 25, 2026; 99.0% 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 USW00013932.
• 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.