Hitchcock County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Aug 7, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$4.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant tree, utility pole and structural damage consistent with an intense downburst occurred in the eastern portions of Palisade and adjacent areas south and east of town. One large garage south of town was destroyed, several irrigation pivots were overturned, and grain bins were damaged or destroyed. An estimated 250 utility poles throughout the county were either snapped or pushed down. Power outages continue in the area.

2. Aug 7, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The high wind gust snapped the top of an 80 foot tree off, with the top of the tree flying over a nearby house. The wind also flipped a swing set. The house shook because the winds were so strong. Elsewhere around town there was widespread, major tree damage. Twelve to eighteen inch diameter trees were snapped and uprooted. Power poles were damaged which lead to power outages in town and the surrounding area. In town one garage and one unanchored mobile home were destroyed. There were many roofs damaged as well as siding on houses. A camper was overturned, damaged and resulted in one (direct) fatality.

3. May 26, 2023Flood$740,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Highway 34 from Benkelman to Trenton was closed due to flooding. Highway 25 from Trenton to highway 6 was also closed. The train bridge west of Stratton was washed out due to the flooding. A road grader was also found to be almost fully submerged.

4. May 18, 2025Tornado$575,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down south of Muddy creek where it tore shingles off of a house. The tornado then traveled to the north and crossed Road 714. As it crossed the road it completely removed a metal machine shed, which included pulling bolts through the concrete foundation. The structure was tossed roughly 50 yards to the north. Other notable damage at this location included leveling two buildings at an old farmstead, pushing a combine roughly 60 feet, tipping over an empty grain cart into a grain truck, pushing a drill backward in the shape of a quarter circle, and then scattering seven empty cattle feeders feeders in a line going north into a wheat field. ||The tornado continued…

5. Jul 12, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Emergency Manager reported power outages in Stratton, Culbertson, Trenton, and Palisade.

6. May 18, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$350,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A storm survey found estimated 120 mph straight line winds that continued along Highway 34 to the northeast. Multiple sheds and at least 15 power poles were blown down along with numerous large tree limbs. 3 center pivots along the straight lined wind path were also flipped. The damage path was roughly 1600 yards wide.

7. Aug 9, 2008Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hitchcock county commissioner estimated 5.25 of rain fell from overnight storms, with several roads in the extreme northeast part of Hitchcock county damaged and impassible. At approximately 11:45 am CDT, an earthen dam partially failed on the Hayes-Hitchcock county border, resulting in further flooding during the next 24 hours.

8. May 26, 2023Flash Flood$202,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   In around around Stratton, at least one home and multiple cars were being swept away from flash flooding. Water rescues were required to save at least 4 citizens inside their homes. The town of Palisade also had extensive flooding but to less of an extent than Stratton. Highway 34 from Benkelman to Trenton was closed due to flooding. Highway 25 from Trenton to highway 6 was also closed. The first report of flash flooding was when a driver became stranded near Palisade and needed rescue.

9. May 29, 2007Flash Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Law enforcement reported that Frenchmen Creek was 25 feet wide at the river gauge. One home was flooded with some railroad damage between Palisade and Culbertson. Frenchman Creek near Palisade was running over bridge. County roads around Palisade have been washed out. 5.88 inches of rain produced flash flooding 4 SE of Palisade where roads are also washed out.||Frenchman Creek ultimately crested at 9.8 feet at Culbertson, which is 1.8 feet above flood stage (8.0 feet). The Frenchman was over flood stage for approximately 34 hours on May 30-31. This was the third highest crest reported in a nearly continuous period of record beginning in 1913.

10. May 18, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$180,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An NWS Storm Survey found a pivot tipped over along with damage to the end of it. 10 power poles were broken as well.

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

111°F3 times, most recently Jul 11, 2022

All-time low

−31°F2 times, most recently Dec 23, 1989

Warmest night

80°FJun 20, 1983

Coldest day

−6°FFeb 5, 1989

Wettest day

6.16 inJul 18, 1981

Snowiest day

14.9 inMar 19, 1984

Hottest year

2012mean 55.7°F

Coldest year

1993mean 48.6°F

Wettest year

196229.36 in

Driest year

19568.84 in

Snowiest season

61.3 in1983-84

Station Trenton Dam 1N (USC00258628), 2,813 ft elevation, 3.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1949 to October 27, 2026; 91.2% 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 USC00258628.
• 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.