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Doniphan County, Kansas severe weather history spans 202 recorded events between 1955 and 2024. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 44.6% of all recorded events. It ranks #2,434 nationally and #105 in Kansas.
202
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
2
Direct injuries
$26.5M
Property damage
The record
What the Doniphan County, Kansas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Doniphan County, Kansas severe weather history averages 2.9 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2000s, with 75 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 45 events fall before 1990 and 157 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is tornado, with $26.1M in reported property damage. In total, 6 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Doniphan County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 90 | 0 | $45 | 2.75 | 1959–2024 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 72 | 0 | $95K | 70 | 1956–2024 |
| Tornado | 19 | 0 | $26.1M | F3 | 1955–2024 |
| Flash Flood | 13 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2000–2016 |
| Flood | 7 | 0 | $100K | 0 | 1997–2019 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | $200K | 0 | 2000–2000 |
Decade by decade
Doniphan County, Kansas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
21 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 16 touched down inside it and 5 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984-04-26 | EF3 | 0 | 9 | 32.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1967-06-11 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 43.9 mi | Crossed in |
| 1959-05-18 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 6.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1981-04-03 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 1.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 1955-05-26 | EF2 | 0 | 1 | 7.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 1965-09-20 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1964-04-20 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1962-05-31 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 1958-06-12 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 14.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 2024-04-27 | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Doniphan County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 5, 1956 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $0 | |
| May 26, 1955 | Tornado | 0 | 1 | $25K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A severe thunderstorm produced golf ball- to baseball-size hail from Highland to just north of Denton. An apparant tornado formed two miles north of Denton and tracked east for 12 miles to near Wathena. Damage was intermittant along the narrow path, which averaged about 100-yards in width. Roofs were blown off of several barns and outbuildings. (F0)
Once the Missouri River started flooding on March 9, it remained in flood through the remainder of the month. The gauge in St. Joseph, Missouri reached 32.12 feet on March 22 (preliminarily a new record). The flooding was caused by several rounds of heavy snow across the Northern Plains through the winter months, followed by a rapid warm-up and several days of heavy rain. The Missouri River Basin across the Northern Plains flooded with catastrophic consequences as numerous dams and levees failed. As the water flowed into the Missouri River upstream of Buchanan County, the river swelled and ultimately overwhelmed the levees along the river. Local fields were also submerged, which delayed the growing season in the region, but several roads were washed away across Atchison County, and I-29 from St. Joseph northward to the Iowa/Missouri border was closed until mid May. Note: The dollar valued assigned to this event is likely inaccurate as a full tally of the extent of the physical damages is unknown. The Missouri River remained in flood through the rest of the month, into April.
A severe thunderstorm produced golf ball- to baseball-size hail from Highland to just north of Denton. An apparant tornado formed two miles north of Denton and tracked east for 12 miles to near Wathena. Damage was intermittant along the narrow path, which averaged about 100-yards in width. Roofs were blown off of several barns and outbuildings. (F0)
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
7,503
Population (ACS)
$135K
Median home value
22
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 24, 2024 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| 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 |
| May 28, 2019 | Severe Storm | TORNADOES AND FLOODING | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Doniphan County, Kansas?
202 events are on record between 1955 and 2024, causing 0 direct deaths and $26.5M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Doniphan County?
Hail, with 90 recorded events — 44.6% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Doniphan County?
21 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 16 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Doniphan County?
22 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Doniphan County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Doniphan County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Doniphan County as very low risk, placing it in the 14 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Doniphan 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
- Dickinson County 851
- Douglas County 894
- Decatur County 614
- Edwards County 579
- Crawford County 657
- Elk County 345
Cite this page
“Doniphan County, Kansas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/kansas/doniphan-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.