Gove County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 29, 2006Winter Storm, Gove$18.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snowfall totals across the county averaged 2 east, 4 central, 8 west. A period of freezing rain occurred before the snow, producing 1/2 of ice. Damage costs are a preliminary combined estimate for both the Dec 20 and Dec 30 storms.

2. May 23, 2008Tornado$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large wedge tornado developed about 9 miles SSW of Quinter and moved north, then northwest, eventually dissipating 2 miles SE of Park. This tornado caused extensive damage to several homes, including EF4 damage to one home which was completely destroyed. A car and a pickup truck were tossed or bounced 200 yards at the residence. Nearby, two other homes suffered extensive damage. This tornado caused two injuries, including the driver of a vehicle which was thrown off Interstate 70, and an older male attempting to get into his storm cellar when he was struck by flying debris.

3. May 23, 2008Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Storm chaser videotaped a large wedge tornado just north of Quinter, which moved into Sheridan county along a path just west of a second tornado occurring simultaneously. This tornado caused extensive utility pole damage from northern Gove into southern Sheridan county, and impacted several homesteads with roof and outbuilding damage.

4. Sep 17, 2001Hail$480,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail and wind damaged buildings in and around Park. Windows were broken, crops were destroyed, and hail was 4 to 6 inches deep in places. Hail completely covered Interstate 70 until snow plows cleared the highway.

5. Oct 12, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$285,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency Manager relayed that 1/2 mile of power poles were blown down due to straight line winds that resulted in no power for the city of Oakley.

6. Aug 14, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   WINDS ESTIMATED BETWEEN 100 AND 120 MPH DAMAGED UNROOFED A CONVENIENCE STORE, DAMAGED SIGNS, IRRIGATION EQUIPMENT, TREES, POWER LINES, CROPS, WINDMILLS, BINS, TRAILERS, SHEDS, BARNS. A 100 FOOT CEMENT SILO WAS BLOWN OVER. A TRACTOR WAS TURNED OVER. TWO HORSES WERE KILLED.

7. May 22, 2008Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado moved across rural eastern Gove county during the late afternoon and produced EF1 damage at a home on Road O before dissipating. Severe roof damage occurred and several outbuildings were damaged or destroyed.

8. May 23, 2008Hail$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   About a dozen reports of large, damaging hail were received from the NSSL SHAVE project. Windows were broken, and some roof damage occurred. Hail was embedded 1-2 inches into the ground in some locations. The hail occurred with a supercell thunderstorms tracking north through the area.

9. Sep 9, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Kansas Highway Patrol reported three semi trucks rolled over due to thunderstorm wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph. The semi trucks were blown over between mile markers 99 and 104 on I-70.

10. Oct 12, 2021High Wind, Gove$96,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Gove County Dispatch reported 8 semi trucks blown over on Interstate 70 from mile markers 92 to 112 within one hour. No injuries 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

113°F2 times, most recently Jul 26, 1940

All-time low

−25°FMar 11, 1948

Warmest night

90°FJun 19, 1894

Coldest day

−10°FDec 22, 1983

Wettest day

6.92 inJul 25, 1999

Snowiest day

12.0 in5 times, most recently Mar 10, 2022

Hottest year

1934mean 57.4°F

Coldest year

1960mean 48.6°F

Wettest year

201842.19 in

Driest year

19569.82 in

Snowiest season

60.0 in1957-58

Station Quinter (USC00146637), 2,672 ft elevation, 7.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1894 to September 30, 2026; 98.1% 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 USC00146637.
• 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.