Graham County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Graham 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. Dec 29, 2006Winter Storm, Graham$21.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snowfall totals across the county averaged 1-3. 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. Jun 20, 2011Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong tornado developed just west of U.S. Highway 283 north of Hill City and moved northeast into southern Norton County. The tornado produced extensive damage, including irrigation pivots overturned, utility poles destroyed, and farm implements rolled/tossed nearly 3/4 of a mile. The worst damage occurred in northern Graham County just east of Highway 283. Storm chasers reported at least one satellite tornado rotating around this main tornadic circulation.

3. Jun 30, 2018Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The flood waters moved into Hill City from the north, overwhelming the drainage tunnels under the town. Water was deep enough in town to move into businesses. |Residents in the trailer park on the south side of town had to evacuate. Two different families had to be water rescued due to their resistance to leave despite flood waters surrounding their home in both instances. One trailer house was carried away by the flood waters. A house in town, located near where the drainage tunnels empty, was engulfed with flood waters. The city park and playground equipment, where the drainage for town empties, was almost completely submerged in water. Over six inches of rainfall was measured in town.

4. Jun 20, 2011Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS employee and storm chaser reported a satellite tornado just east of Highway 283 in extreme northern Graham County.

5. Jun 20, 2011Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   NWS employee and storm chaser indicated a satellite tornado north and northwest of the main tornado at approximately this time.

6. Aug 29, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An NWS storm survey confirms wind damage consistent with winds of 90 to 105 mph. Several farmsteads lost buildings, trees, power poles, pivots, fences, and roofing material. A few grain bins were blown over.

7. May 23, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$126,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong thunderstorm outflow winds produced a swath of damage across northern Graham County. Winds estimated at 90 mph broke approximately 55 utility poles from Roads 130 and V, northeast to Roads 250 and CC. In addition, six irrigation pivots were overturned, two outbuildings were damaged or destroyed and numerous tree limbs broken. Time of events is estimated from radar and local residents.

8. May 28, 2018Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flood waters were so deep water rescues had to be performed at a trailer park south of the river next to Highway 283 from 5:30 PM CDT to 11 PM CDT. Highway 283 was closed from Hill City to Wakeeney due to flood waters over the Highway on the south side of Hill City near the trailer park. The flooding extended thee miles south-southwest from town along the creek channel.

9. May 28, 2018Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Highway 18 from Bogue to Damar was closed due to flooding. The flooding most likely occurred west of Sand Creek. Four farmhouses were flooded and 20 cattle drowned where Sand Creek and the South Fork of Solomon River meet.

10. May 1, 2024Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Exceptional damage to a 60'x100' metal building with 15' side walls that was built in 2019. East wall was blown in, roof blown away, and substructure partially collapsed with metal siding peeled away. Several 2x4 planks of wood were stuck in the ground about 70' from the building near a broken telephone pole. Property owners found debris scattered about two miles to the southeast.

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

117°FJul 24, 1936

All-time low

−24°FJan 12, 1912

Warmest night

86°FJun 21, 1908

Coldest day

−4°F2 times, most recently Jan 7, 1912

Wettest day

7.43 inSep 17, 1919

Snowiest day

10.0 in5 times, most recently Feb 7, 1980

Hottest year

1934mean 58.3°F

Coldest year

1951mean 50.4°F

Wettest year

194139.38 in

Driest year

201210.53 in

Station Hill City Municipal Airport (USW00093990), 2,189 ft elevation, 1.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1907 to October 26, 2026; 99.3% 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 USW00093990.
• 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.