Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Wallace County, Kansas. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding from summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Wallace County, Kansas, accounting for the vast majority of recorded flood events over the last thirty years compared to general riverine flooding.
Recent severe weather demonstrates this hazard. In May 2023, widespread thunderstorm activity and repeated rounds of heavy rainfall caused flooding in western Wallace County. The following month, in June 2023, slow-moving thunderstorms tracking eastward from Colorado produced multiple reports of two inches of rain within the core of the system, resulting in additional flooding across the county alongside damaging winds and large hail.
Residents in low-lying areas, locations susceptible to rapid accumulation from intense rainfall, and properties outside mapped high-risk zones that lack adequate elevation or drainage should pay the most attention to these recurring flash flood threats.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
5 NOAA storm reports from Wallace County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Kansas flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 2004.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 3, 2025 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, And Wildfires | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jun 26, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 14, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Straight-line Winds | Mar 17, 2022 |
| Severe Storms And Straight Line Winds | Dec 15, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding,landslides,and Mudslides | Apr 28, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 28, 2017 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
21 since 1996: 17 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 30, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 30, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jun 16, 2023 | — |
| Flood | May 11, 2023 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 26, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 23, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 4, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 26, 2015 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 30, 2023. Widespread thunderstorm activity occurred over Northwest Kansas during the evening. Hail up to golf ball size was reported at Rexford. Thunderstorm winds moving out ahead of the storm over Cheyenne County caused a localized dust storm on Highway 27. Later in the evening wind gusts up to 59 MPH were reported near Norton. The repeated rounds of rainfall over part of the area led to flooding in western Wallace Co…
Flash Flood · May 30, 2023. Widespread thunderstorm activity occurred over Northwest Kansas during the evening. Hail up to golf ball size was reported at Rexford. Thunderstorm winds moving out ahead of the storm over Cheyenne County caused a localized dust storm on Highway 27. Later in the evening wind gusts up to 59 MPH were reported near Norton. The repeated rounds of rainfall over part of the area led to flooding in western Wallace Co…
Flood · Jun 16, 2023. In the early afternoon of the 16th, a system of thunderstorms formed in east central Colorado and progressed eastward into Kansas. The severe cells of this system remained about 30 miles south of I-70 until it was near the Oakley area, where it began a northeastward trend. Up to 2 inch diameter hail and a 67 mph wind gust was reported from this system. Multiple reports of 2 inches of rain were also reported with t…
Flood · May 11, 2023. A high impact storm system moved across Northwest Kansas. The storm system produced an environment that was favorable for any of the developing thunderstorms to produce a tornado, which led to multiple tornadoes occurring on this day. The strongest tornado was rated an EF-1 which caused damage to the high school in Weskan. ||Otherwise thunderstorms produced hail up to half dollar in size near Wallace, and wind g…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Wallace County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.