Platte County, Wyoming

What hazards hit Platte County most?

The most frequent records are high wind and dust records: 984 since 1996. 41% of its high wind and dust records since 1996 fell in December and January. The rank column places the county among Wyoming'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 Platte County had?

NOAA records 50 tornadoes in Platte County from 1955 to 2023, the strongest rated F3, with 0 deaths and 5 injuries recorded in the county. That is 3rd of 23 Wyoming 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 50 tornadoes whose track touched Platte County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 50, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Wyoming.

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 Platte County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 25, 2026 flash flood ($6,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

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 Platte 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 2010s: 491 records against 67 in the decade before, 491 of them forecast-zone records. Winter storms in the 2010s: 156 records against 25 in the decade before, 156 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 Platte 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?

41% of its high wind and dust records since 1996 fell in December and January. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Platte County

FEMA's register lists 8 declarations that include Platte County: 5 major disasters, one emergency and 2 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for fire (2) and biological (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 Platte County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 32 flood or flash flood records for Platte County from 1996 to 2026, on 24 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Platte County ranks 2830th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $0 on 1 claim filed in Platte County; the most in one year was 1 in 2019. 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 Platte County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Platte County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $5.9 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 Platte County

1. Albany County 6,260
2. Laramie County 5,081
3. Platte County 1,842
4. Goshen County 959
5. Converse County 843
6. Niobrara County 489

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 WyomingEvery Wyoming tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• High wind and dust storms in WyomingThe state's high wind and dust records, by county, year and month
• The Wyoming recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Platte CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Platte County's FEMA declarations (CSV)8 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis