NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Rock Springs, WY
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
No tropical storm or hurricane has passed within 75 miles of Rock Springs, Wyoming since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 7 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 7
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Rock Springs
The highest rating among the 7 tornadoes within 25 miles is F1, reached 5 times; the most recent, on April 20, 2001, came within 22 miles. Of the 7, one had a path within 5 miles of the city centre, and 3 have come since 2000. The most recent tornado was on May 7, 2014. Of the 35 Wyoming cities on this site, 60% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Rock Springs. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 4 times since 1989, with stones up to 1 inch (quarter size). Of the 35 Wyoming cities, 77% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Rock Springs.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Rock Springs
By decade
- 2010s1
- 2000s2
- 1990s1
- 1970s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 2001 | F1 | 22 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 14, 2000 | F1 | 22 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 31, 1978 | F1 | in town | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 27, 1974 | F1 | 17 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 9, 1973 | F1 | 19 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 7, 2014 | EF0 | 24 mi | 0.53 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 10, 1997 | F0 | 16 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 7 of 7, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Rock Springs
The Storm Prediction Center has 4 hail reports within 10 miles of Rock Springs since 1989. Of these, one was 1 inch across or larger, and none reached 2 inches. The largest, 1 inch (quarter size), fell on May 26, 2023, the most recent report.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Rock Springs
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Rock Springs Fire Dept, WY, 4 miles west of Rock Springs at 6,270 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 86°F and low of 53°F; December is the coolest, at 33°F and 12°F. May is the wettest at 1.9 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.4 inches; the year adds up to 10.5 inches over 28 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 15 days a year, almost all from June to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 184 nights a year. Snowfall averages 31.3 inches a year, most of it in December. That 10.5 inches is more than at 10 of the 32 Wyoming stations used on this site (31%). Green River, 25 miles west, has its own station (Green Rvr, WY): 10.2 inches a year, 0.3 less than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 86°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 35 | 12 | 0.5 | 2 | 6.1 |
| Feb | 38 | 15 | 0.4 | 2 | 5.8 |
| Mar | 49 | 23 | 0.6 | 2 | 4.4 |
| Apr | 57 | 30 | 1.1 | 3 | 1.9 |
| May | 67 | 37 | 1.9 | 4 | 0.5 |
| Jun | 79 | 45 | 0.8 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 86 | 53 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 84 | 51 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 75 | 41 | 1.2 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 61 | 31 | 1.0 | 3 | 2.3 |
| Nov | 45 | 21 | 0.7 | 2 | 3.8 |
| Dec | 33 | 12 | 0.5 | 2 | 6.5 |
| Year | 59 | 31 | 10.5 | 28 | 31.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Rock Springs Fire Dept, WY (6,270 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Rock Springs
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 55 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Rock Springs: 50 thunderstorm wind reports, 4 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $1.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 78 mph, on August 12, 2020.
May 24, 2014: lightning strike 5 miles from the centre of Rock Springs — 1 injured.
NWS: “A 31-year-old man was injured when lightning struck him on the practice putting green at White Mountain Golf Course on the north side of Rock Springs. A witness to the incident was able to revive the man with CPR and a defibrillator.”
July 28, 2021: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Rock Springs — $750,000 damage.
NWS: “Runoff from higher desert terrain and rain falling on an urbanized landscape led to flash flooding across western portions of Rock Springs.”
July 7, 2015: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Rock Springs — $250,000 damage.
NWS: “A second straight day of drenching thunderstorms brought widespread flash flooding throughout the city of Rock Springs. Many businesses and residential basements were flooded.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Rock Springs's ZIP code 82901 have filed 20 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1980, and were paid $894,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. Of the 9 Wyoming cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 5 have fewer than Rock Springs.
Sweetwater County, which includes Rock Springs, has been named in 4 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 2 of them major disasters (by incident: 2 biological emergencies, 1 drought, 1 severe storm). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 11, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Sweetwater County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for inland flooding and lightning; Very Low for tornadoes, hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $11.6 million a year, the 11th highest of 23 Wyoming counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $8.2 million (71%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Rock Springs
- Green River, WY25 mi
- Lyman, WY64 mi
- Kemmerer, WY67 mi
- Vernal, UT77 mi
- Big Piney, WY82 mi
- Lander, WY83 mi
- Evanston, WY93 mi
- Pinedale, WY95 mi
- Roosevelt, UT98 mi
- Rawlins, WY100 mi
- Riverton, WY107 mi
- Craig, CO108 mi
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