Saline County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Saline 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, Saline$9.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   One to two inches of ice accumulated across Saline 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 24, 2007Flood$6.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous, slow-moving thunderstorms produced widespread 4 to 7 inch rainfall amounts across primarily the northwestern two-thirds of Saline County from the evening hours on May 23rd, to the early morning hours on May 24th. Excessive runoff from this heavy rain caused widespread countywide flooding for days. Numerous rural and city roads were closed due to high water. The Mulberry Creek reached record flood stage during the late afternoon hours of the 24th, resulting in road closures and evacuations across portions of Salina. Mandatory evacuations were needed in the communities of Hedville and Bavaria, due to the rapidly rising Mulberry and Spring Creeks. The rising Smoky Hill…

3. May 6, 2007Flood$4.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains over several days from intense thunderstorms caused significant river flooding throughout the county. The hardest hit area was Salina where the Smoky Hill River and the Mulberry Creek combined to cause nearly 5 million dollars in damage. According the Salina Journal, 239 structures had minor flood damage, ranging from a few inches of water in basements to as much as 6 feet of water in basements. 18 structures sustained some structural damage and 9 structures were destroyed. There was also about 1.75 million dollars in damage to public roads bridges and structures. The Mulberry Creek crested at 27.22 feet late in the evening on May 7th. The Smoky Hill River crested at…

4. Jun 11, 2008Tornado$2.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread damage was noted to several homes, businesses, and trees along the tornadoes path. One cabinet making business had a 10000 square foot section of roof removed, with a total of 20000 square feet of damage to the structure as a sprinkler main broke pouring water onto the factory floor. Several homes sustained damage due to garage doors collapsing in the wind and ultimately lifting the roofs off of the homes. One home sustained slightly more damage than the rest, as two exterior walls were also blown out.

5. Jun 11, 2008Hail$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tennis ball to baseball sized hail fell across the Salina Municipal Airport and continued across the Kansas State Campus at Salina. There were hail smashed car windshields in the parking lot and pummeled the tar composite roof hangers, some dating back to World War 2.

6. Jun 11, 2008Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The largest hail stone fell at Magnolia and Marketplace in Downtown Salina.

7. Jul 16, 2010Heat, Saline$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The oppressive heat and humidity killed an estimated 100 to 300 cattle in feedlots across Saline County. Monetary loss estimates include cattle deaths along with the 40 to 70 pounds of average weight loss most heads of cattle incurred.

8. Jan 11, 2018Winter Storm, Saline$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wintry mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow led to treacherous driving conditions across most of Saline County, Kansas. Numerous accidents and slide offs were reported along Interstate 70 and Interstate 135 near Salina. The heaviest snowfall occurred to the northwest of Salina where 4 to 5 inches were reported.

9. Aug 10, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$398,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Winds estimated at 75 mph moved across the city, damaging 2500 businesses and homes and knocking out power to 1400 people. Three private hangers were totaled at the Salina Municipal Airport. A steeple was blown off the top of a church, piercing the roof of the church like a lawn dart. The funnel formed by the stuck steeple poured water into the sanctuary. The metal canopy of a gas station was partially destroyed. The storm knocked down almost 70 power poles across town. Numerous large trees and limbs were knocked down all over the city.

10. Jun 28, 1998Hail$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Extensive damage to 15 vehicles and houses sustained major roof damage and broken windows in a 3-mile wide area from near Smolan southeast to Assaria.

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°F4 times, most recently Aug 19, 2023

All-time low

−24°FDec 22, 1989

Warmest night

84°FAug 2, 1980

Coldest day

−3°FDec 21, 1983

Wettest day

5.84 inMay 21, 1971

Snowiest day

15.0 inJan 9, 1985

Hottest year

2017mean 60.2°F

Coldest year

1960mean 52.9°F

Wettest year

199358.08 in

Driest year

196612.98 in

Station Salina Municipal Airport (USW00003919), 1,263 ft elevation, 3.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1952 to October 25, 2026; 99.7% 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 USW00003919.
• 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.