Kingman County, Kansas

County storm and disaster record · FIPS 20095 · population 7,470 · 863 sq mi

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 941 records for Kingman County, Kansas from 1950 through June 30, 2026, on 506 days; the most frequent are hail reports (402 records). The most damaging was the December 10, 2007 ice storm ($21.3 million in 2025 dollars). FEMA has issued 21 declarations naming the county since 1967, 19 of them for natural hazards; the latest for a natural hazard was “Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding” on September 11, 2025.

The record, 1950 to 2026

Storm records filed for the county each year (2026 to June 30, 2026). Before 1996 NOAA recorded only tornadoes (from 1950), thunderstorm wind and hail (from 1955).

  • recorded, no damage figure
  • under $100,000
  • $100,000 or more
  • $1 million or more
  • $10 million or more, or a death
  • $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
  • a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
  • a year with a death
  • 1955: wind and hail recorded from 1955
  • 1996: all 48 event types from 1996
Storm records
941on 506 days, 1950 to June 30, 2026
Deaths recorded
09 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$41Mas filed (scale steps before 1993)
Tornadoes
66strongest EF3
FEMA declarations
21latest 2025

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026 (file revision 20260918); damage converted to 2025 dollars with the BLS CPI-U. Search the record at NCEI. BLS consumer price index.

What hazards hit Kingman County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 402 since 1958. 57% of its hail reports since 1958 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.

Kingman County: records by hazard, 1950 to June 30, 2026
HazardRecordsDaysFirst, lastKilledInjuredDamageRank in state
Hail 402 202 1958-2026 0 0 $3.7M 52 of 105
Severe thunderstorm wind 270 164 1959-2026 0 3 $4.9M 41 of 105
Winter storms 71 67 1998-2026 0 4 $22M 71 of 105
Tornadoes 66 39 1950-2017 0 1 $3.0M 39 of 105
Drought 56 56 2011-2026 0 0 $5.4M 20 of 105
Floods 31 26 1996-2024 0 0 $248K 61 of 105
High wind and dust storms 15 15 2005-2026 0 0 $93K 71 of 105
Heavy rain 13 12 2007-2024 0 1 $7K 44 of 105
Heat 9 9 2006-2011 0 0 – 53 of 105
Extreme cold 3 3 2007-2021 0 0 $5K 80 of 105
Lightning 2 2 2010-2011 0 0 $242K 51 of 105
Fog, smoke and funnel clouds 2 2 2010-2023 0 0 $7K 63 of 105
Wildfires 1 1 2011-2011 0 0 $1.3M 39 of 105

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 Kingman County had?

NOAA records 66 tornadoes in Kingman County from 1950 to 2017, the strongest rated EF3, with 0 deaths and 1 injury recorded in the county. That is 39th 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 68 tornadoes whose track touched Kingman 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.

The deadliest and strongest tornadoes that touched Kingman County, whole tracks
DateTornadoRatingPathKilled
2012-05-19 17:16, as SPC files itUnnamedEF39.72 mi0

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Kansas.

Every tornado record filed for Kingman County (66)
The 60 most recent of 66 tornadoes in Kingman County
DatePlaceCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2017-05-19 Zenda, Kingman County EF0 0.32 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
2017-05-19 Kingman Municipal Airport, Kingman County EF0 0.31 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
2017-05-19 Nashville, Kingman County EF0 0.21 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
2016-07-28 Penalosa, Kingman County EF0 3.79 mi x 75 yd 0 0 –
2015-04-08 Kingman Municipal Airport, Kingman County EF0 0.73 mi x 75 yd 0 0 –
2012-05-19 Spivey, Kingman County EF3 4.42 mi x 75 yd 0 0 –
2012-05-19 Spivey, Kingman County EF0 5.55 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
2012-05-19 Zenda, Kingman County EF0 1.35 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
2012-05-19 Cleveland, Kingman County EF0 2.05 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
2012-05-19 Zenda, Kingman County EF0 5.86 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
2012-05-19 Penalosa, Kingman County EF0 6.74 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
2012-05-19 Nashville, Kingman County EF1 5.7 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
2012-05-19 Kingman County EF0 0.56 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
2012-04-14 Zenda, Kingman County EF0 1.29 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
2012-04-14 Kingman Municipal Airport, Kingman County EF0 0.24 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
2012-04-14 Penalosa, Kingman County EF0 0.48 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
2010-05-16 Cunningham, Kingman County EF0 0.77 mi x 100 yd 0 0 –
2010-05-10 Norwich, Kingman County EF1 1.83 mi x 300 yd 0 0 –
2010-05-10 Rago, Kingman County EF2 3.14 mi x 700 yd 0 0 $169K
2010-05-10 Zenda, Kingman County EF0 2.73 mi x 125 yd 0 0 –
2009-07-20 Rago, Kingman County EF0 2.03 mi x 75 yd 0 0 –
2009-05-15 Norwich, Kingman County EF0 1.52 mi x 75 yd 0 0 –
2009-03-07 Norwich, Kingman County EF0 0.69 mi x 75 yd 0 0 –
2003-07-09 Willowdale, Kingman County F0 0.5 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
2003-07-09 Cunningham, Kingman County F1 5 mi x 100 yd 0 0 $120K
2003-07-09 Kingman County F0 1 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
2002-05-07 Kingman County F0 0.3 mi x 110 yd 0 0 –
2002-05-07 Zenda, Kingman County F0 0.3 mi x 110 yd 0 0 –
2002-05-07 Cunningham, Kingman County F0 0.2 mi x 110 yd 0 0 –
2002-05-07 Cunningham, Kingman County F0 0.5 mi x 110 yd 0 0 –
2002-04-11 Waterloo, Kingman County F0 1 mi x 110 yd 0 0 –
2001-06-03 Kingman County F0 0.5 mi x 55 yd 0 0 –
2001-06-03 Kingman County F0 0.5 mi x 55 yd 0 0 –
2001-06-03 Murdock, Kingman County F0 1 mi x 110 yd 0 0 –
2001-06-03 Norwich, Kingman County F0 3 mi x 110 yd 0 0 –
2001-06-03 Rago, Kingman County F0 0.5 mi x 55 yd 0 0 –
2001-04-14 Norwich, Kingman County F0 0.5 mi x 110 yd 0 0 –
1999-05-16 Kingman County F0 4 mi x 110 yd 0 0 –
1999-05-16 Belmont, Kingman County F0 0 0 –
1998-08-25 Kingman County F0 1 mi x 110 yd 0 0 –
1998-08-03 Mt Vernon, Kingman County F0 1 mi x 110 yd 0 0 –
1997-05-25 Duquoin, Kingman County F0 0.5 mi x 50 yd 0 0 –
1993-05-17 Cleveland, Kingman County F0 0.5 mi x 100 yd 0 0 $10K
1992-09-05 Kingman County F1 0.5 mi x 50 yd 0 0 $3K step
1992-04-09 Kingman County F0 0.1 mi x 10 yd 0 0 –
1991-04-17 Kingman County F1 2 mi x 100 yd 0 0 $30 step
1991-03-26 Kingman County F0 1 mi x 50 yd 0 0 $3K step
1990-04-09 Kingman County F0 1 mi x 210 yd 0 0 –
1990-04-09 Kingman County F1 7 mi x 420 yd 0 0 –
1986-05-08 Kingman County F1 1.5 mi x 50 yd 0 0 $3K step
1986-05-08 Kingman County F1 1 mi x 50 yd 0 0 $3K step
1984-04-02 Kingman County F0 0.1 mi x 33 yd 0 0 $30 step
1984-04-02 Kingman County F0 0.1 mi x 10 yd 0 0 $30 step
1982-05-28 Kingman County F0 3 mi x 17 yd 0 0 –
1975-06-16 Kingman County F0 8.2 mi x 13 yd 0 0 $30 step
1975-05-21 Kingman County F0 4.5 mi x 400 yd 0 0 $3K step
1974-04-20 Kingman County F0 41.3 mi x 33 yd 0 0 $30 step
1968-04-21 Kingman County F2 30.1 mi x 33 yd 0 0 $250K step
1963-08-06 Kingman County 0 0 $250 step
1963-06-05 Kingman County F1 0 0 –

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, 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 Kingman County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the October 14, 2017 thunderstorm wind (1 injury).

A Fed Ex truck was blown in to the median along Highway 54. The driver was transported to the hospital. There were also 8 power poles south of Cunningham blown over.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 722213)
The 12 most recent records kept for Kingman County
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2026-06-20 Thunderstorm WindKingman Municipal Airport, Kingman County 52 kt wind 0 0 –
2026-06-13 Thunderstorm WindKingman Municipal Airport, Kingman County 53 kt wind 0 0 –
2026-06-13 Thunderstorm WindMurdock, Kingman County 61 kt wind 0 0 –
2026-06-13 Thunderstorm WindKingman Municipal Airport, Kingman County 52 kt wind 0 0 –
2026-06-13 Thunderstorm WindCunningham, Kingman County 52 kt wind 0 0 –
2026-06-02 Thunderstorm WindNorwich, Kingman County 61 kt wind 0 0 –
2026-06-02 Thunderstorm WindNorwich, Kingman County 78 kt wind 0 0 –
2026-06-02 Thunderstorm WindNorwich, Kingman County 74 kt wind 0 0 –
2026-06-01 DroughtKingman County · forecast zone Kingman 0 0 –
2026-06-01 Thunderstorm WindKingman County 50 kt wind 0 0 –
2026-05-30 HailKingman County 1.50 in hail 0 0 –
2026-05-30 HailZenda, Kingman County 1.00 in hail 0 0 –

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

Records with deaths or injuries in Kingman County, most deaths first
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2007-01-20 Heavy SnowKingman County · forecast zone Kingman Snow accumulated 8 inches in Norwich. Additionally, two injury accidents occurred, one along Southeast 120 Street and another along U.S. Highway 54. 0 2 –
2017-10-14 Thunderstorm WindCunningham, Kingman County A Fed Ex truck was blown in to the median along Highway 54. The driver was transported to the hospital. There were also 8 power poles south of Cunningham blown over. 56 kt wind 0 1 –
2011-01-19 Winter WeatherKingman County · forecast zone Kingman A mix of freezing drizzle and light snow from the mid-afternoon hours on the 19th to the predawn hours on the 20th resulted in slick roads across the county, contributing to some vehicle accidents, slide-offs and rollovers. One injury (indirect) was reported one mile north of Zenda. The Kingman Leader-Courier ... 0 1 $20K
2008-09-12 Heavy RainRago, Kingman County A vehicle traveling north, hit water standing on the roadway and lost control south of Rago on Kansas Highway 14. The driver of the car was injured when his left arm/elbow went through the drivers window. 0 1 $7K
2008-05-23 Thunderstorm WindSpivey, Kingman County Trees and tree limbs less than 4 inches in diameter were downed. One minor injury occurred in Spivey, but details are unknown. 52 kt wind 0 1 –
2008-01-21 Winter WeatherKingman County · forecast zone Kingman Very slick conditions due to light freezing drizzle and freezing rain resulted in an injury accident about one mile east of SE 150th Ave. A 49-year-old woman was injured (indirect) when her vehicle slid into the ditch. 0 1 –
1984-10-31 Thunderstorm WindKingman County 0 1 –
1956-12-04 TornadoKingman County F0 2.5 mi x 27 yd 0 1 $250 step

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.

The costliest records in Kingman County since 1993, damage in 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2007-12-10 Ice StormKingman County · forecast zone Kingman 0 0 $21M
1998-05-24 HailNorwich, Kingman County 0.75 in hail 0 0 $3.2M
1996-04-27 Thunderstorm WindKingman County 0 0 $1.5M
2011-03-22 WildfireKingman County · forecast zone Kingman 0 0 $1.3M
2009-03-27 BlizzardKingman County · forecast zone Kingman 0 0 $275K
1993-05-15 HailPenalosa, Kingman County 2.75 in hail 0 0 $204K
2008-06-05 Thunderstorm WindCunningham, Kingman County 87 kt wind 0 0 $129K
2003-07-09 TornadoCunningham, Kingman County F1 5 mi x 100 yd 0 0 $120K

Before 1993 NOAA filed damage by category, not amount, so the list above starts in 1993. The highest category filed here before then (entered as $250K, in the dollars of the day) holds: April 21, 1968 (tornado, Kingman County).

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 Kingman 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).

Kingman County: records per decade (the 2020s to June 30, 2026)
Hazard1950s1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s2010s2020-26
Hail131314801719525
Severe thunderstorm wind1491229799739
Winter storms––––4212917
Tornadoes45351217200
Drought––––003323
Floods––––58162

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

What time of year?

57% of its hail reports since 1958 fell in May and June. The two busiest months are in violet.

The values, month by month

Jan 25 · Feb 33 · Mar 54 · Apr 115 · May 256 · Jun 184 · Jul 95 · Aug 79 · Sep 32 · Oct 32 · Nov 15 · Dec 21 (records).

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

Federal disaster declarations for Kingman County

FEMA's register lists 21 declarations that include Kingman County: 18 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (14) and biological (2).

Declarations including Kingman County, newest first
DeclaredNumberTypeTitle
2025-09-11DR-4891Severe StormSevere Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding
2020-03-29DR-4504BiologicalCovid-19 Pandemic
2020-03-13EM-3481BiologicalCovid-19
2019-06-20DR-4449Severe StormSevere Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding,Landslides,and Mudslides
2019-02-25DR-4417Severe StormSevere Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding
2018-10-19DR-4403Severe StormSevere Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding
2016-10-20DR-4287Severe StormSevere Storms and Flooding
2013-10-22DR-4150Severe StormSevere Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding
2013-04-26DR-4112SnowstormSnowstorm
2009-06-25DR-1849Severe StormSevere Storms, Flooding, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes
2009-06-24DR-1848Severe StormSevere Winter Storm and Record and Near Record Snow
2008-07-09DR-1776Severe StormSevere Storms, Flooding and Tornadoes
2008-02-01DR-1741Severe StormSevere Winter Storms
2007-12-12EM-3282Severe StormSevere Winter Storms
2007-05-06DR-1699Severe StormSevere Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
2005-09-10EM-3236HurricaneHurricane Katrina Evacuation
2005-02-08DR-1579Severe StormSevere Winter Storms, Heavy Rains, and Flooding
2002-02-06DR-1402Severe Ice StormSevere Winter Ice Storm
1973-09-28DR-403Severe StormSevere Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding
1973-05-02DR-378FloodSevere Storms & Flooding
1967-07-18DR-229TornadoTornadoes, Severe Storms & Flooding

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 Kingman County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 31 flood or flash flood records for Kingman County from 1996 to 2024, on 26 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Kingman County ranks 2400th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $993,000 on 9 claims filed in Kingman County; the most in one year was 3 in 2016. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

The values, year by year

1979: 1 · 1993: 1 · 2007: 1 · 2016: 3 · 2018: 3; the other years: 0.

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 Kingman County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Kingman County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $11.2 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.

National Risk Index ratings for Kingman County (December 2025 release), by FEMA's rating, then score
HazardRisk ratingExpected annual lossModeled frequency
Ice StormRelatively High$731Kabout once a year (modeled)
HailRelatively Moderate$921K11 a year (modeled)
DroughtRelatively Moderate$654K48 modeled event-days a year
Cold WaveRelatively Moderate$2.5M1.5 a year (modeled)
TornadoRelatively Moderate$2.1Mabout once a year (modeled)
WildfireRelatively Low$830Konce in about 369 years (modeled)
Heat WaveRelatively Low$344K13 modeled event-days a year
Strong WindRelatively Low$498K6.7 a year (modeled)

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

Counties that share a border with Kingman County

  1. Sedgwick County 3,150
  2. Reno County 1,630
  3. Sumner County 1,313
  4. Pratt County 1,104
  5. Kingman County 941
  6. Barber County 881
  7. Harper County 857

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

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