Carbon County, Wyoming severe weather history spans 228 recorded events between 1958 and 2025. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 70.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,264 nationally and #14 in Wyoming.
228
Recorded events
6
Direct deaths
7
Direct injuries
$451K
Property damage
The record
What the Carbon County, Wyoming severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Carbon County, Wyoming severe weather history averages 3.4 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2020s, with 78 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 49 events fall before 1990 and 179 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Carbon County, Wyoming record is flash flood, responsible for 4 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $300K in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Carbon County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 161 | 0 | $151K | 77 | 1958–2025 |
| Hail | 35 | 0 | $0 | 2 | 1958–2024 |
| Tornado | 18 | 0 | $300K | F2 | 1958–2021 |
| Flash Flood | 6 | 4 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2022 |
| Lightning | 3 | 2 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2002 |
| Flood | 3 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2023 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–1997 |
Decade by decade
Carbon County, Wyoming severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
18 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 18 touched down inside it and 0 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976-07-02 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2020-06-06 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 1967-07-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1966-06-15 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 1964-05-29 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1958-07-20 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 2021-05-17 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 1997-06-08 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1997-08-10 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1997-06-06 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Carbon County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 19, 2011 | Flash Flood | RYAN PARK | 4 | 2 | $0 |
| Aug 10, 1998 | Lightning | ARLINGTON | 1 | 1 | $0 |
| Sep 17, 2002 | Lightning | ENCAMPMENT | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Apr 20, 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | RAWLINS | 0 | 3 | $50K |
| Jun 14, 1998 | Lightning | RAWLINS | 0 | 1 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A woman was killed by a lightning bolt while hiking in the Snowy Range. A friend that was hiking with her was injured. The two were trying to get to lower levels of the mountains after spotting the storm, but the storm caught them in the open.
Mullen Creek, Savage Run, and Cottonwood Creek all flooded with the Mullen Creek rising 3 feet near the confluence with the North Platte River near A Bar A Ranch. Heavy rain was reported higher upstream over the Mullen Fire Burn Scar Area with 1 hour rainfall accumulation near 1 inch. A Bar A Ranch measured 0.58 inches of rainfall.
Brief landspout tornado was observed with photos disseminated by Carbon County Emergency Manager south of Rawlins. According to reports by the public via social media, landspout tornado remained over open areas with no discernable damage to rank only as EFU. Given limited evidence, specific location, width, length and timing are all estimates.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
14,463
Population (ACS)
$223K
Median home value
5
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 26, 2020 | Fire | MULLEN FIRE | FM |
| Sep 5, 2020 | Fire | 316 FIRE | FM |
| Apr 11, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jul 22, 2011 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND LANDSLIDES | DR |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Carbon County, Wyoming?
228 events are on record between 1958 and 2025, causing 6 direct deaths and $451K in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Carbon County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 161 recorded events — 70.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Carbon County?
18 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 18 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Carbon County?
5 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Carbon County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Carbon County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Carbon County as very low risk, placing it in the 43 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Carbon County, Wyoming severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Campbell County 1,114
- Converse County 266
- Big Horn County 222
- Crook County 839
- Albany County 287
- Fremont County 452
Cite this page
“Carbon County, Wyoming.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/wyoming/carbon-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.