Ellsworth County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Dec 10, 2007Ice Storm, Ellsworth$9.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   One to two inches of ice accumulated across Ellsworth County during the ice storm. This resulted in approximately 500 downed power poles and 2000 downed lines. Damage to the electrical infrastructure is estimated at $9.8 million. There was also widespread damage to trees but the cost of the damage is unknown.

2. May 23, 2007Flash Flood$4.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous, slow-moving thunderstorms produced widespread 4 to 7 inch rainfall amounts across primarily the southeastern three-quarters of Ellsworth County from the late afternoon hours on May 23rd, to the early morning hours on May 24th. This caused widespread countywide flash flooding. Several rural and city roads were closed due to high water, and several roads countywide were damaged. Numerous homes and businesses received various magnitudes of flood damage. Some evacuations were needed along area rivers and streams, as well as along portions of Kanopolis Reservoir. Thankfully there were no injuries. Combined public and private damages were likely around $4-5 million.

3. Jun 11, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Major roof damage, with some roofs completely blown off homes. Windows blown out off both homes and vehicles. In cases where roofs were blown off homes, the resultant water damage from rains was extensive. Area newspapers contributed greatly to this report.

4. Jun 11, 2002Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous windows smashed out of homes, businesses and vehicles. Crop damage, especially to corn and wheat, was extensive. Area newspapers contributed greatly to this report.

5. May 5, 2007Flash Flood$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Low water crossings were closed around Wilson due to high water. Widespread flooding was reported across the county. 2.55 inches of rain was reported by the Ellsworth police in just a few hours. No damage was reported to any structures.

6. Feb 3, 2014Heavy Snow, Ellsworth$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Six to ten inches fell across the county. Numerous auto slide offs and accidents occurred along Interstate 70. Blowing and drifting of the snow made county roads impassible.

7. Jun 11, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Unspecified number of campers tipped over, at least two boats broke loose from their moorings and an specified number of private docks were damaged.

8. Jun 11, 2008Hail$170,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two inch hail blasted the sides of houses across Kanopolis. The north side of the Community Centers siding was blasted by the hail. Skylights and windows were also broken across town.

9. Jul 31, 2003Thunderstorm Wind$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Amateur radio tower toppled. Back trailer of a truck pulling two horse trailers overturned on I-70.

10. Jun 11, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$125,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Widespread damage to campers, trees, power lines and power poles.

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°F5 times, most recently Aug 20, 2023

All-time low

−24°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

86°FJun 18, 1953

Coldest day

−6°FDec 25, 1983

Wettest day

5.93 inJul 22, 2025

Snowiest day

15.0 inFeb 8, 1980

Hottest year

1954mean 58.0°F

Coldest year

1951mean 51.6°F

Wettest year

197347.08 in

Driest year

199415.31 in

Snowiest season

41.6 in1959-60

Station Kanopolis Lake (USC00144178), 1,492 ft elevation, 18.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 27, 2026; 96.3% 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 USC00144178.
• 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.