Ellis County, Kansas

What hazards hit Ellis County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 539 since 1955. 62% of its hail reports since 1955 fell in May and June. 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 Ellis County had?

NOAA records 66 tornadoes in Ellis County from 1951 to 2021, the strongest rated F3, with 0 deaths and 7 injuries recorded in the county. That is 21st 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 65 tornadoes whose track touched Ellis County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 66: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

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 Ellis County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the December 15, 2021 wildfire (1 death).

A very large and fast moving wildfire burned nearly 50,000 acres. Numerous structures, fence posts, livestock, wildlife were killed by the fire. Fire officials indicated that structures that normally take 90 to 120 minutes to burn completely in high wind were burning to cinders in less than 15 minutes. Tragically one person caught in the fire passed away. He was driving to a structure for protection from high wind and ran out of fuel and was caught in the advancing fire line.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 992210)

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 Ellis 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).

High wind and dust storms in the 2020-26: 26 records against 8 in the decade before, 26 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Ellis County days with a record above.

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

What time of year?

62% of its hail reports since 1955 fell in May and June. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Ellis County

FEMA's register lists 15 declarations that include Ellis County: 12 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (9) and snowstorm (2).

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 Ellis County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 48 flood or flash flood records for Ellis County from 1996 to 2021, on 40 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Ellis County ranks 1319th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $246,000 on 97 claims filed in Ellis County; the most in one year was 39 in 1984. 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 Ellis County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Ellis County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $16.0 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 Ellis County

1. Russell County 1,292
2. Ellis County 1,194
3. Ness County 830
4. Rush County 807
5. Osborne County 776
6. Trego County 768
7. Rooks County 755

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 Ellis CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Ellis County's FEMA declarations (CSV)15 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis