92
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$739K
Property damage
Tornado in Kiowa County, Colorado: 92 recorded events between 1958 and 2023. The strongest on record measured F3. That places the county #72 nationally and #13 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Kiowa County, Colorado: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Kiowa County is the 2010s, when 43 of the county's 92 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Kiowa County archive, tornado makes up 18.4% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #72 for this hazard and #13 within Colorado, putting it in the 97.5 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for tornado in Kiowa County with 37 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-03-28 | EF3 | 28.0 mi | 900 yd | Crossed in |
| 1971-10-17 | EF3 | 5.6 mi | 500 yd | Touched down here |
| 2012-04-27 | EF2 | 0.7 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
| 2012-04-27 | EF2 | 6.2 mi | 300 yd | Crossed in |
| 2012-04-27 | EF2 | 19.1 mi | 200 yd | Crossed in |
| 1982-05-18 | EF2 | 2.0 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 1975-05-10 | EF2 | 21.9 mi | 440 yd | Crossed in |
| 1975-05-12 | EF2 | 11.1 mi | 440 yd | Touched down here |
| 2012-04-27 | EF1 | 2.2 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 2010-04-22 | EF1 | 7.2 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 2012 | CHIVINGTON | EF1 | 0 | 1 | $40K |
| May 17, 1978 | F1 | 0 | 1 | $3K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 2023 | HASWELL | EFU | $0 |
| May 28, 2023 | EADS | EFU | $0 |
| Jun 17, 2019 | HASWELL | EFU | $0 |
| Jun 17, 2019 | CHIVINGTON | EFU | $0 |
| May 26, 2019 | EADS | EFU | $0 |
| May 10, 2017 | BRANDON | EFU | $0 |
| Jul 15, 2016 | SHERIDAN LAKE | EF0 | $0 |
| May 27, 2016 | TOWNER | EFU | $0 |
| May 27, 2016 | TOWNER | EFU | $0 |
| May 27, 2016 | TOWNER | EFU | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Kiowa County
- Hail 323
- Thunderstorm Wind 60
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A tornado destroyed a small, poorly constructed mobile home and damaged some nearby grain bins on the far north side of Sheridan Lake. Some windows were also broken and shingles were ripped off houses. The tornado moved east-southeast through open country of Kiowa county and dissipated near the Colorado-Kansas border.
A second tornado developed from the same supercell that spawned the Holly tornado. It destroyed four electrical transmission poles on State Highway 96…east of Towner…and then moved through a rural area…before crossing into Greeley County Kansas.
A brief tornado touched down just southwest of Chivington, CO in Kiowa County. Storm chaser said the tornado lifted just before getting to Chivington and they saw no visible damage. Contact with county Emergency Management provided no discernible damage was reported so storm survey was not conducted.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Kiowa County, Colorado?
92 tornado events are recorded in Kiowa County between 1958 and 2023, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Kiowa County?
The strongest tornado on record in Kiowa County measured F3.
Where does the tornado data for Kiowa County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in Kiowa County, Colorado.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/colorado/kiowa-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.