Kiowa County, Colorado severe weather history spans 500 recorded events between 1958 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 64.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #876 nationally and #21 in Colorado.
500
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
5
Direct injuries
$841K
Property damage
The record
What the Kiowa County, Colorado severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Kiowa County, Colorado severe weather history averages 7.5 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 172 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 55 events fall before 1990 and 445 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $739K in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Kiowa County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 323 | 0 | $20K | 4 | 1960–2025 |
| Tornado | 92 | 0 | $739K | F3 | 1958–2023 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 60 | 0 | $32K | 100 | 1963–2023 |
| Flash Flood | 10 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1998–2021 |
| Funnel Cloud | 7 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1996–2010 |
| Heavy Rain | 6 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2021–2022 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $50K | 0 | 2012–2012 |
| Wildfire | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2000 |
Decade by decade
Kiowa County, Colorado severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
99 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 93 touched down inside it and 6 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-03-28 | EF3 | 2 | 9 | 28.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1971-10-17 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 5.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2012-04-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.7 mi | Touched down here |
| 2012-04-27 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 6.2 mi | Crossed in |
| 2012-04-27 | EF2 | 0 | 7 | 19.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 1982-05-18 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 1975-05-12 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 11.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1975-05-10 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 21.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 2012-04-27 | EF1 | 0 | 1 | 2.2 mi | Touched down here |
| 2010-04-22 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.2 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Kiowa County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | EADS | 0 | 3 | $10K |
| Apr 27, 2012 | Tornado | CHIVINGTON | 0 | 1 | $40K |
| May 17, 1978 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $3K |
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.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
1,376
Population (ACS)
$162K
Median home value
11
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 25, 2023 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR |
| Mar 28, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jan 7, 2007 | Snowstorm | SNOW | EM |
| Sep 5, 2005 | Coastal Storm | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM |
| Jun 19, 2002 | Fire | WILDFIRES | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Eads 162
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Kiowa County, Colorado?
500 events are on record between 1958 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $841K in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Kiowa County?
Hail, with 323 recorded events — 64.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Kiowa County?
99 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 93 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Kiowa County?
11 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Kiowa County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Kiowa County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Kiowa County as very low risk, placing it in the 4 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Kiowa County, Colorado 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
- Jefferson County 657
- Kit Carson County 1,324
- Jackson County 11
- Lake County 8
- Huerfano County 193
- La Plata County 256
Cite this page
“Kiowa County, Colorado.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/colorado/kiowa-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.