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Brown County, Kansas severe weather history spans 460 recorded events between 1950 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 44.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,018 nationally and #91 in Kansas.
460
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
9
Direct injuries
$8.1M
Property damage
The record
What the Brown County, Kansas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Brown County, Kansas severe weather history averages 6.1 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 162 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 82 events fall before 1990 and 378 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $5.5M 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 Brown County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 205 | 0 | $104K | 4.5 | 1957–2023 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 168 | 0 | $480K | 82 | 1956–2025 |
| Tornado | 44 | 0 | $5.5M | F3 | 1950–2023 |
| Flash Flood | 26 | 0 | $2.0M | 0 | 1998–2021 |
| Lightning | 7 | 0 | $30K | 0 | 1996–2007 |
| Flood | 6 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2010–2015 |
| Funnel Cloud | 4 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2006–2009 |
Decade by decade
Brown County, Kansas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
56 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 49 touched down inside it and 7 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967-06-11 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 43.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 1959-05-18 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1950-05-05 | EF3 | 0 | 12 | 17.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 2023-05-12 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 2005-06-04 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1998-06-13 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1993-05-06 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1984-06-07 | EF2 | 0 | 5 | 18.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1974-03-07 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 108.4 mi | Crossed in |
| 1973-04-19 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Brown County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 7, 1984 | Tornado | 0 | 5 | $2.5M | |
| Jun 7, 1984 | Thunderstorm Wind | 0 | 4 | $0 |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Hiawatha had report of flooding of city streets. One resident has house flooded out and is being evacuated by city workers. Unofficial reports of 6 to 8 inches of rain with a few rural roads damaged by flash flooding. Flash flooding also severely damaged a low water impoundment dam on the Kickapoo Indian Reservation that is vital to their water supply. Total damage to the dam was estimated at 1.5 million dollars.
The tornado began near Highway 75 about eight miles south of Fairview and moved northnortheast damaging about half dozen farmsteads before dissipating southeast of Fairview. The tornado was not on the ground continuously along its path. Debris from the tornado was reported in the sky west of Hiawatha.
Three farmsteads or businesses sustained damage with a total of 15 buildings damaged or destroyed. Several cars were rolled and a combine was moved a considerable distance. A salvage yard was near one of the houses damaged by the tornado. A hubcap from the salvage yard had become airborne and was impaled in the sheet rock in the living room of the house.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
9,343
Population (ACS)
$118K
Median home value
18
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 17, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND STRAIGHT LINE WINDS | DR |
| Mar 29, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jun 20, 2019 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, FLOODING,LANDSLIDES,AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
| Jul 20, 2015 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Aug 10, 2010 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Hiawatha 100
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Brown County, Kansas?
460 events are on record between 1950 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $8.1M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Brown County?
Hail, with 205 recorded events — 44.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Brown County?
56 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 49 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Brown County?
18 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Brown County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Brown County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Brown County as very low risk, placing it in the 15 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Brown County, Kansas 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
- Bourbon County 446
- Butler County 1,844
- Barton County 1,099
- Chase County 380
- Barber County 742
- Chautauqua County 475
Cite this page
“Brown County, Kansas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/kansas/brown-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.