Rooks County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Rooks 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. Jun 5, 2022Hail$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The local newspaper reported that the combination of wind and hail that pummeled the area broke numerous home and vehicle windows, damaged siding and roofs, ruined gardens and stripped trees of leaves.

2. Jun 5, 2022Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Radar estimated that rainfall amounts of 2-4 inches fell over much of the warned area, with a small area exceeding 4 inches centered near Stockton. Emergency management reported that water rapidly flowed over numerous roads in Stockton, including Highway 183. The local newspaper reported that several Stockton city streets were impassable for up to a few hours (including Highway 183), many nearby rural county roads were damaged, and several area basements were flooded.

3. Apr 10, 2001Tornado$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong thunderstorms just north of a warm front moved into north-central Kansas. Despite the late hour of the day, cooler temperatures and foggy conditions, these thunderstorms began to rotate and produced several tornadoes across the area. The first tornado developed in southwest Rooks county near Palco and lifted just south of Webster Lake. One farmstead was hit with damage sustained to outbuildings, trees and farm equipment. The next twister entered Rooks county from Ellis county south of Plainville. This tornado hit a farmstead on the south side of Plainville and traveled northeast through the cemetery and then on to rural areas of eastern Rooks county. The farmstead sustained…

4. Dec 30, 2006Ice Storm, Rooks$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wide variety of significant winter weather began impacting portions of north central Kansas. Freezing rain, sleet, and snow began early Saturday morning mainly along highway 183 and spread east during the day. This led to significant ice accumulations which continued through Saturday night. Many locations received at least one half inch of ice. The deposits of ice have caused widespread tree damage, along with power outages, and damage to power lines and poles.

5. Aug 29, 2019Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 71 MPH wind gust was measured by a mesonet site located near Plainville. Emergency management and media confirmed considerable tree damage in Plainville, along with a roof blown off of a former lumberyard and all but the bottom section of a county communications tower toppled to the ground. Three transformers were struck by lightning and power lines were downed. An NWS cooperative observer located 4 miles west-northwest of Plainville reported multiple tree limbs downed and chimney damage to their home. A semi-truck was blown over approximately 5 miles south of Plainville.

6. Jun 9, 2005Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado, the second of two tornadoes at the same time, destroyed a barn on a farm southwest of Stockton. Damage to the farmhouse included shingles, broken windows and other minor damages.

7. Dec 15, 2021Wildfire, Rooks$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A pair of wind-driven wildfires affected southern portions of Rooks County. These fires started in the afternoon hours of the 15th, and while they were largely under control by the early morning of the 16th, small flare-ups were a concern for a few more days. The suspected cause of these fires was downed power lines due to strong winds, which gusted up to around 90 MPH at times. The larger fire in southwest parts of the county burned approximately 6,137 acres, scorching along a nearly 1 mile wide and 11 mile long path from approximately two miles south-southeast of Damar (along Highway 18) to three miles northwest of Plainville. Although the fire was contained before reaching…

8. May 28, 2019Hail$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The hailstone 3 inches in diameter was by far the exception, the majority of the hail ranged from pea to quarter size.

9. Jun 9, 2005Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado destroyed an electrical substation, several power poles and three outbuildings along its path through central Rooks County.

10. Jun 9, 2005Tornado$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A tornado began near Stockton and skipped northeast through town, and eventually lifted a few miles northeast of town.

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

116°FJul 24, 1936

All-time low

−29°FDec 23, 1989

Warmest night

82°FJul 25, 1936

Coldest day

−5°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

6.00 inSep 12, 1961

Snowiest day

15.0 inMar 16, 1924

Hottest year

1934mean 58.0°F

Coldest year

1993mean 49.9°F

Wettest year

199344.01 in

Driest year

192612.28 in

Snowiest season

55.0 in1957-58

Station Plainville 4WNW (USC00146435), 2,194 ft elevation, 6.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1904 to October 27, 2026; 96.9% 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 USC00146435.
• 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.