Sedgwick County, Kansas

What hazards hit Sedgwick County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 1,397 since 1955. 56% 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 Sedgwick County had?

NOAA records 91 tornadoes in Sedgwick County from 1950 to 2026, the strongest rated F5, with 14 deaths and 347 injuries recorded in the county. That is 7th of 105 Kansas counties and 266th of 3,080 U.S. 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 91 tornadoes whose track touched Sedgwick County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 91, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 26 people, 14 of them in Sedgwick 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 Sedgwick County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 21, 2026 tornado (1 death and 1 injury).

A brief tornado developed and quickly intensified over one property. The brunt of the damage was to a double wide manufactured home that was bolted to a poured basement foundation. This home was lifted and completely taken apart with the frame bent and twisted. Unfortunately there was a fatality for this resident who was thrown in the field to the north of the property. Most of the debris from the home and two outbuildings was pushed to the northeast into an open field and could be found for six miles to the northeast. A neighboring house to the west had damage to the edge of the roof and siding from debris tossed into it, but there wasn't other damage to that property. The power pole was still upright, but the lines had been taken down. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1351271)

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 Sedgwick 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?

56% 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 Sedgwick County

FEMA's register lists 18 declarations that include Sedgwick County: 14 major disasters, 4 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (8) 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 Sedgwick County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 229 flood or flash flood records for Sedgwick County from 1998 to 2026, on 107 days, with 2 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Sedgwick County ranks 332nd of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $14.7 million on 990 claims filed in Sedgwick County; the most in one year was 117 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 Sedgwick County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Sedgwick County Relatively High overall, with an expected annual loss of $256 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 Sedgwick County

1. Sedgwick County 3,150
2. Butler County 2,021
3. Reno County 1,630
4. Cowley County 1,585
5. Sumner County 1,313
6. Kingman County 941
7. Harvey County 836

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