Highest listed crest 19.79 ft September 25, 1993; 67,500 cubic feet per second
Flood stage 12.0 ft Major flooding from 21.0 ft
Crests at major 0 99 above flood stage
Most recent flood crest June 2, 2022 13.63 ft, minor flooding Listed crests at the Lightning Creek (SE KS) near McCune, 1938 to 2022 5 10 15 20 25 ft Flood stage 12.0 ft Major 21.0 ft Nov 1, 1938: 16.24 ft, minor flooding; 5,800 cubic feet per second May 22, 1939: 13.16 ft, minor flooding; 2,110 cubic feet per second Apr 18, 1940: 12.50 ft, minor flooding; 1,900 cubic feet per second Apr 16, 1941: 16.80 ft, minor flooding; 10,300 cubic feet per second Oct 5, 1941: 17.55 ft, moderate flooding; 18,700 cubic feet per second May 19, 1943: 17.81 ft, moderate flooding; 23,000 cubic feet per second Apr 11, 1944: 16.63 ft, minor flooding; 8,550 cubic feet per second Sep 25, 1945: 16.76 ft, minor flooding; 10,200 cubic feet per second Jan 6, 1946: 16.19 ft, minor flooding; 5,820 cubic feet per second Apr 15, 1960: 15.22 ft, minor flooding; 2,940 cubic feet per second May 6, 1961: 17.46 ft, moderate flooding; 19,000 cubic feet per second Sep 23, 1962: 15.64 ft, minor flooding; 3,420 cubic feet per second Jun 13, 1963: 12.43 ft, minor flooding; 2,030 cubic feet per second Jun 14, 1964: 17.07 ft, moderate flooding; 13,800 cubic feet per second Apr 3, 1965: 16.55 ft, minor flooding; 7,700 cubic feet per second May 12, 1966: 11.53 ft, action stage; 1,740 cubic feet per second Jun 12, 1967: 15.68 ft, minor flooding; 3,350 cubic feet per second Jun 2, 1968: 15.83 ft, minor flooding; 3,550 cubic feet per second Mar 25, 1969: 15.84 ft, minor flooding; 3,560 cubic feet per second May 1, 1970: 16.39 ft, minor flooding; 6,220 cubic feet per second Jan 4, 1971: 13.31 ft, minor flooding; 2,240 cubic feet per second Dec 15, 1971: 16.27 ft, minor flooding; 5,320 cubic feet per second Apr 1, 1973: 16.16 ft, minor flooding; 4,660 cubic feet per second Mar 11, 1974: 17.65 ft, moderate flooding; 21,600 cubic feet per second Nov 4, 1974: 16.79 ft, minor flooding; 11,000 cubic feet per second Jul 4, 1976: 16.31 ft, minor flooding; 7,170 cubic feet per second Jun 22, 1977: 16.63 ft, minor flooding; 9,570 cubic feet per second Nov 1, 1977: 15.10 ft, minor flooding; 3,040 cubic feet per second May 21, 1979: 16.35 ft, minor flooding; 7,250 cubic feet per second Nov 21, 1979: 17.38 ft, moderate flooding; 17,500 cubic feet per second Jul 1, 1981: 11.52 ft, action stage; 1,920 cubic feet per second Mar 15, 1982: 15.43 ft, minor flooding; 3,240 cubic feet per second Apr 23, 1983: 16.77 ft, minor flooding; 10,500 cubic feet per second Oct 22, 1983: 15.91 ft, minor flooding; 4,150 cubic feet per second Feb 23, 1985: 17.09 ft, moderate flooding; 14,600 cubic feet per second Nov 16, 1985: 16.25 ft, minor flooding Dec 21, 1987: 15.99 ft, minor flooding; 4,530 cubic feet per second Jun 12, 1989: 15.99 ft, minor flooding; 4,530 cubic feet per second Mar 15, 1990: 16.47 ft, minor flooding; 8,240 cubic feet per second Jan 16, 1991: 11.72 ft, action stage; 2,050 cubic feet per second Jul 12, 1992: 16.76 ft, minor flooding; 10,800 cubic feet per second Sep 25, 1993: 19.79 ft, moderate flooding; 67,500 cubic feet per second Apr 11, 1994: 19.08 ft, moderate flooding; 39,900 cubic feet per second Jun 10, 1995: 18.70 ft, moderate flooding; 32,300 cubic feet per second Sep 27, 1996: 15.22 ft, minor flooding; 3,490 cubic feet per second Feb 22, 1997: 16.40 ft, minor flooding; 7,900 cubic feet per second Dec 25, 1997: 13.40 ft, minor flooding; 2,950 cubic feet per second Oct 5, 1998: 18.24 ft, moderate flooding; 24,300 cubic feet per second May 10, 2000: 13.93 ft, minor flooding; 3,140 cubic feet per second Jan 30, 2001: 15.69 ft, minor flooding; 4,280 cubic feet per second May 9, 2002: 17.14 ft, moderate flooding; 11,700 cubic feet per second Sep 2, 2003: 14.15 ft, minor flooding; 3,160 cubic feet per second Mar 5, 2004: 17.00 ft, moderate flooding; 20,800 cubic feet per second Jan 6, 2005: 16.43 ft, minor flooding; 7,280 cubic feet per second May 10, 2006: 7.56 ft, below flood stage Jul 2, 2007: 17.76 ft, moderate flooding May 8, 2008: 17.59 ft, moderate flooding; 17,769 cubic feet per second Jun 10, 2008: 17.18 ft, moderate flooding; 13,591 cubic feet per second Sep 15, 2008: 16.04 ft, minor flooding; 6,076 cubic feet per second Sep 22, 2009: 16.90 ft, minor flooding Oct 9, 2009: 18.11 ft, moderate flooding Mar 21, 2012: 16.30 ft, minor flooding; 7,367 cubic feet per second May 1, 2012: 16.79 ft, minor flooding; 10,413 cubic feet per second May 22, 2013: 15.32 ft, minor flooding; 4,781 cubic feet per second May 31, 2013: 18.22 ft, moderate flooding; 26,927 cubic feet per second Jul 31, 2013: 17.54 ft, moderate flooding; 17,119 cubic feet per second Jun 6, 2014: 12.64 ft, minor flooding May 18, 2015: 12.77 ft, minor flooding; 2,602 cubic feet per second May 25, 2015: 16.38 ft, minor flooding; 7,813 cubic feet per second Jun 14, 2015: 13.98 ft, minor flooding; 3,219 cubic feet per second Jul 10, 2015: 15.57 ft, minor flooding; 5,117 cubic feet per second Nov 28, 2015: 16.05 ft, minor flooding; 6,126 cubic feet per second Dec 14, 2015: 14.64 ft, minor flooding; 3,864 cubic feet per second Dec 28, 2015: 17.22 ft, moderate flooding; 14,061 cubic feet per second May 18, 2016: 13.91 ft, minor flooding; 3,182 cubic feet per second Oct 8, 2016: 16.60 ft, minor flooding; 8,781 cubic feet per second Apr 23, 2017: 13.91 ft, minor flooding; 3,444 cubic feet per second Apr 30, 2017: 18.00 ft, moderate flooding; 22,393 cubic feet per second May 4, 2017: 14.88 ft, minor flooding; 4,037 cubic feet per second May 12, 2017: 12.36 ft, minor flooding; 2,830 cubic feet per second Aug 12, 2017: 12.17 ft, minor flooding; 2,756 cubic feet per second Aug 18, 2017: 15.69 ft, minor flooding; 4,918 cubic feet per second May 21, 2018: 13.42 ft, minor flooding; 3,243 cubic feet per second Aug 30, 2018: 13.89 ft, minor flooding; 3,726 cubic feet per second May 1, 2019: 16.93 ft, minor flooding; 11,178 cubic feet per second May 8, 2019: 14.13 ft, minor flooding; 3,860 cubic feet per second May 21, 2019: 17.80 ft, moderate flooding; 19,811 cubic feet per second Jun 17, 2019: 14.74 ft, minor flooding; 3,824 cubic feet per second Jun 24, 2019: 13.86 ft, minor flooding; 3,355 cubic feet per second Aug 9, 2019: 14.46 ft, minor flooding; 3,671 cubic feet per second Sep 24, 2019: 14.97 ft, minor flooding; 4,002 cubic feet per second Sep 30, 2019: 12.43 ft, minor flooding; 2,812 cubic feet per second Dec 30, 2019: 13.76 ft, minor flooding; 3,321 cubic feet per second Feb 25, 2020: 16.61 ft, minor flooding; 7,809 cubic feet per second Mar 20, 2020: 15.46 ft, minor flooding; 4,377 cubic feet per second Apr 26, 2020: 12.23 ft, minor flooding; 2,780 cubic feet per second May 13, 2020: 13.18 ft, minor flooding; 3,148 cubic feet per second May 27, 2020: 14.23 ft, minor flooding; 3,613 cubic feet per second Mar 15, 2021: 12.63 ft, minor flooding; 2,933 cubic feet per second Jun 27, 2021: 14.15 ft, minor flooding; 3,559 cubic feet per second Jul 17, 2021: 15.77 ft, minor flooding; 5,230 cubic feet per second May 5, 2022: 17.30 ft, moderate flooding; 14,303 cubic feet per second Jun 2, 2022: 13.63 ft, minor flooding; 3,347 cubic feet per second Highest, 19.79 ft, Sep 25, 1993 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020 Crests at or above flood stage, by decade Crests at or above flood stage per decade, Lightning Creek (SE KS) near McCune 1930s: 2 1940s: 7 1950s: 0 1960s: 9 1970s: 11 1980s: 7 1990s: 9 2000s: 12 2010s: 32 32 2020s: 10 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s These are the crests the local National Weather Service office lists for the gauge: the highest on record and recent crests. Lesser floods between them may be missing, so counts by decade are a floor. Categories use today's flood stages. Levees, dams and channel changes since a crest can make old and new stages not directly comparable. 1 crest measured on an earlier gauge datum is left out: 18.48 ft on Oct 1, 1986. 05 Other gauges in Cherokee County Cherokee County: every hazard · River floods across the country · Kansas
NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge MCNK1, retrieved October 30, 2026. Stages in feet on the gauge's own datum, not elevation. Crests are as the National Weather Service lists them; preliminary values may be revised.