NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Belle Plaine, KS
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 Belle Plaine, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 180 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 18 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 180
- EF3 or stronger
- 18
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
104 deaths in all
What the records show for Belle Plaine
The highest rating among the 180 tornadoes within 25 miles is F5, reached 2 times; the most recent, on April 26, 1991, came within 11 miles. The deadliest, an F5 on May 25, 1955, killed 80 people. Of the 180, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 63 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 59. The most recent tornado was on April 29, 2022. Belle Plaine has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 95% of the 171 Kansas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 203 times since 1956, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Belle Plaine has more hail reports within 10 miles than 53% of the 171 Kansas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Belle Plaine
By decade
- 2020s2(1 EF3+)
- 2010s29(2 EF3+)
- 2000s32(3 EF3+)
- 1990s44(6 EF3+)
- 1980s20
- 1970s10
- 1960s19(4 EF3+)
- 1950s24(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 25, 1955 | F5 | 24 mi | 56.4 mi | 80 / 273 |
| Apr 26, 1991 | F5 | 11 mi | 46 mi | 17 / 225 |
| May 3, 1999 | F4 | 5 mi | 24 mi | 6 / 150 |
| Apr 26, 1991 | F4 | 21 mi | 25 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Jun 23, 1969 | F4 | 18 mi | 8.7 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Mar 16, 1965 | F4 | 21 mi | 82.7 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Apr 29, 2022 | EF3 | 17 mi | 12.65 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Apr 14, 2012 | EF3 | 11 mi | 13.2 mi | 0 / 38 |
| Apr 14, 2012 | EF3 | 20 mi | 18.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 12, 2004 | F3 | 6 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 29, 2004 | F3 | 15 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 29, 2004 | F3 | 18 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 180, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Belle Plaine
The Storm Prediction Center has 203 hail reports within 10 miles of Belle Plaine since 1956, made on 126 separate days. Of these, 134 were 1 inch across or larger, and 20 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on June 13, 1998. The most recent report is from September 3, 2025. May has the most reports, 65.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Belle Plaine
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Haysville 3SE, KS, 9 miles north of Belle Plaine at 1,240 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 44°F and 21°F. June is the wettest at 6.3 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 38.4 inches over 51 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 60 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 114 nights a year. Snowfall averages 8.1 inches a year, most of it in December. That 38.4 inches is more than at 72 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (70%). Udall, 10 miles east, has its own station (Winfield 3NE, KS): 40.7 inches a year, 2.3 more than here, and a July average high of 91°F against 92°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 44 | 21 | 0.9 | 2 | 2.1 |
| Feb | 48 | 25 | 1.5 | 3 | 2.3 |
| Mar | 59 | 34 | 2.5 | 4 | 0.5 |
| Apr | 68 | 44 | 3.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| May | 77 | 55 | 6.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 87 | 65 | 6.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 92 | 69 | 4.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 90 | 67 | 4.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 83 | 58 | 3.0 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 72 | 45 | 3.1 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 57 | 33 | 1.8 | 2 | 0.2 |
| Dec | 46 | 24 | 1.3 | 2 | 3.0 |
| Year | 69 | 45 | 38.4 | 51 | 8.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Haysville 3SE, KS (1,240 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 Belle Plaine
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 184 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Belle Plaine: 144 thunderstorm wind reports, 25 flash floods, 10 floods and 5 heavy rain events. They killed 0 people and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $3.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on March 2, 2008. May has had the most flash floods, 16 of 25. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 122 have had fewer than Belle Plaine.
August 28, 2025: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Belle Plaine — 6 injured.
September 9, 2016: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Belle Plaine — $500,000 damage.
July 17, 1997: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Belle Plaine — $500,000 damage.
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 Belle Plaine's ZIP code 67013 have filed 110 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.7 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 1998, with 30. 7% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 65 Kansas cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 45 have fewer than Belle Plaine.
Sumner County, which includes Belle Plaine, has been named in 27 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 23 of them major disasters (by incident: 20 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on September 1, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Sumner County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $17.1 million a year, the 23rd highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.6 million (39%), 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).
Belle Plaine in the notable storm records: The May 25, 1955 F5 Tornado in Oklahoma, near Arkansas City, KS
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Belle Plaine
- Mulvane, KS7 mi
- Udall, KS10 mi
- Wellington, KS11 mi
- Haysville, KS12 mi
- Derby, KS12 mi
- Clearwater, KS14 mi
- Rose Hill, KS16 mi
- Douglass, KS18 mi
- Winfield, KS20 mi
- Conway Springs, KS20 mi
- Wichita, KS21 mi
- Andover, KS23 mi
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