Converse County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by WY WSGS (58).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Apr 4, 1997Blizzard, Converse$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds combined with snow amounts of generally 8 to 12 inches to create widespread blizzard conditions in southeast Wyoming and the Nebraska panhandle. By 845 PM April 4 all roads had been closed in and out of Cheyenne except for Interstate 25. Closed and impassable roads became the norm from the evening of April 4 through April 6 due to blowing and drifting snow. Many automobile accidents occurred as a result of the treacherous conditions, and many power lines were downed due to the weight of snow. Many livestock were killed by the snow and accompanying cold temperatures because the storm occurred in the calving season. The highest snow amount was 12 inches at Albin and…

2. Feb 2, 1999High Wind, Converse$43,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   West winds were sustained at 35 to 45 mph across all of southeast Wyoming with gusts as high as 85 mph. Dozens of trailers were blown over on Interstate 25 north of Cheyenne, and on Interstate 80 west of Laramie. A record wind gust for the month of February was reported at the National Weather Service Office in Cheyenne. Many billboards, power lines, trees and awnings were blown down around the city. A gas station canopy was also ripped off by the winds. In Wheatland, trees were blown down and a barn was destroyed by the winds. In Converse County, the winds damaged house siding, roof shingles and vehicle windows. a semi-trailer was overturned on Interstate 25 between Douglas and…

3. Aug 15, 1996Hail$30,000
4. Oct 4, 1998Blizzard, Converse$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   8 to 12 inches of heavy, wet snow fell across eastern Converse County and Niobrara County. The heavy snow downed trees and power lines. Ice build up was up to 6 inches around many power lines. The build up of ice around the power lines along with 40 mph winds, caused 200 power poles to snap. 4000 people were without power for up to 5 days in the Lusk, Manville, Van Tassle, and Lance Creek areas.. Interstate 80 between Cheyenne and Laramie was closed due to near zero visibilities.

5. Jul 12, 2009Hail$15,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong wind gusts also reported in Douglas with some trees damaged or down. Some car windows broken.

6. Oct 24, 1997Blizzard, Converse$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An early season blizzard dumped up to 20 inches of snow in areas of southeastern Wyoming, downing power poles and power lines as well as making many roads impassable. Wet, wind-driven snow damaged trees in addition to unharvested milo, corn and sunflower fields, and many motorists were stranded on impassable roads or when vehicles slid off roads. High school athletic events were postponed, and high school bands and athletic teams were stranded when their buses could continue no further. The following occurrences were documented as occurring on the 24th. Semi-tractor trucks with trailers tipped over after jackknifing on Interstate 80 near Sinclair and at milepost 340; no damage…

7. Nov 13, 2007High Wind, North Laramie Range$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Brief period of high winds partially blew off a roof from a house on Mormon Canyon road near Glenrock, WY.

8. Mar 20, 2019Flash Flood$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An earthen dam near the Fiddle Back Ranch failed causing the release of water that washed out the nearby intersection of Dull Center and Lynch Road. The released water eventually made it downstream into the Cheyenne River causing the level to rise to the top of the river bank.

9. Mar 6, 1998Winter Storm, Converse$10,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A winter storm affected parts of southeast Wyoming, with a total of 11 inches of snowfall reported in Rawlins, 10 inches at Lusk and Hanna, and 8 inches of snowfall was reported across Platte county. The Wyoming Highway Patrol received 19 reports of automobile accidents involving injuries due to snow packed roads, and another 90 accidents without injuries between midnight and 715 pm.

10. Jul 1, 1998Hail$7,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A storm produced golfball to base ball size hail, which covered the ground, on several ranches 40 miles northwest of Douglas.

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

93°FJun 30, 1990

All-time low

−55°FDec 21, 1990

Warmest night

62°F2 times, most recently Jul 13, 2026

Coldest day

−38°FDec 21, 1990

Wettest day

2.70 inJun 9, 1986

Hottest year

2012mean 40.3°F

Coldest year

1997mean 34.9°F

Wettest year

198337.30 in

Driest year

201211.60 in

Station Laprele Creek (USS0005G04S), 8,375 ft elevation, 29.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1989 to October 26, 2026; 92.3% 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 USS0005G04S.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.