Cowley County, Kansas

What hazards hit Cowley County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 727 since 1955. 54% of its hail reports since 1955 fell in April and May. The rank column places the county among Kansas's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Cowley County had?

NOAA records 89 tornadoes in Cowley County from 1953 to 2024, the strongest rated F5, with 77 deaths and 290 injuries recorded in the county. That is 32nd of 105 Kansas counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 87 tornadoes whose track touched Cowley County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 89: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 83 people, 77 of them in Cowley County.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Kansas.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Cowley County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the November 7, 2023 dense fog (2 injuries).

A few vehicle accidents occurred in dense fog with an advisory in effect at the time of the accidents. The closest airport as Winfield Airport (KWLD) indicated visibility of a 1/4 of a mile at the time. One minor injury was suspected.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1147757)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Cowley County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

54% of its hail reports since 1955 fell in April and May. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Cowley County

FEMA's register lists 27 declarations that include Cowley County: 23 major disasters, 4 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (19) and flood (3).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Cowley County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 67 flood or flash flood records for Cowley County from 1998 to 2024, on 41 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Cowley County ranks 1121st of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $2.1 million on 142 claims filed in Cowley County; the most in one year was 78 in 1998. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Cowley County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Cowley County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $27.0 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Cowley County

1. Sedgwick County 3,150
2. Butler County 2,021
3. Osage County, OK 1,740
4. Kay County, OK 1,627
5. Cowley County 1,585
6. Sumner County 1,313
7. Chautauqua County 591
8. Elk County 462

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in KansasEvery Kansas tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Hail in KansasThe state's hail reports, by county, year and month
• The Kansas recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Cowley CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Cowley County's FEMA declarations (CSV)27 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis