Kiowa County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Kiowa County: 11.
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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 4, 2007Tornado$250 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This killer tornado started in Comanche county and crossed into Kiowa county at 2003 CST / 2103 CDT. It curved north then northwest before making a complete loop northwest of Greensburg. Thus, the path was 25.8 miles.||This tornado destroyed nearly 95 percent of the town of Greensburg and despite adequate warning, unfortunately took the life of 11 people, some that were in basements. First responders arriving on the scene requested three refrigerated refer trucks thinking there would be hundreds of fatalities. It also destroyed a dozen homes and a church south of Greensburg but did not cause injury. In all, 961 homes and businesses were destroyed, 216 received major damage and 307…

2. Aug 2, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   2-40,000 bushel grain bins blown over...trees blown down...a roof was blown off a building...several vehicles damaged...mobile home damaged...25-35 percent of the corn fields were destroyed (some of the corn was completely stripped off the cob)...several irrigation pivots overturned.

3. Jun 11, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Downburst with winds estimated over 100 MPH with numerous reports of roof and vehicle damage. Lots of trees and limbs down. Roof blown off a read-mix plant...elevator doors blown off and shed blown several blocks. Power lines also down. This storm was accompanied by large hail just southeast of town. Wind was associated with rear flank downdraft rotating around the north side of the southwest moving storm.

4. May 7, 2002Tornado$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado moved slowly east/northeast at first and then turned south/southeast striking two farms. One person was thrown from the house and into the yard.

5. Mar 12, 2021Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were several pivot irrigations systems rolled over several times and were completely destroyed. An unofficial wind measurement from a home weather station was 114 MPH.

6. Jul 1, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$70,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Pivot sprinkler overturned...siding stripped off a house and a shed was destroyed.

7. Apr 23, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A pivot irrigation sprinkler was overturned by the high wind.

8. May 7, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tractor was blown upside down onto a road.

9. Apr 11, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$40,000
10. Jul 1, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$30,000

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 Aug 13, 1936

All-time low

−20°F2 times, most recently Dec 22, 1989

Warmest night

84°F2 times, most recently Jul 14, 1986

Coldest day

−2°F2 times, most recently Dec 21, 1983

Wettest day

7.54 inSep 26, 1973

Snowiest day

16.0 inMar 29, 2009

Hottest year

1954mean 60.4°F

Coldest year

1993mean 52.0°F

Wettest year

197342.21 in

Driest year

193910.51 in

Snowiest season

53.0 in1992-93

Station Greensburg (USC00143239), 2,243 ft elevation, 2.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 26, 2026; 92.2% 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 USC00143239.
• 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.