NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Cheney, 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 Cheney, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 147 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 15 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 147
- EF3 or stronger
- 15
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
27 deaths in all
What the records show for Cheney
The highest rating among the 147 tornadoes within 25 miles is F5, reached 2 times; the most recent, on April 26, 1991, came within 21 miles. Of the 147, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 59 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 58. The most recent tornado was on May 5, 2019. Cheney has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 68% of the 171 Kansas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 111 times since 1962, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Of the 171 Kansas cities, 89% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Cheney.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Cheney
By decade
- 2010s31(4 EF3+)
- 2000s28(2 EF3+)
- 1990s35(4 EF3+)
- 1980s18
- 1970s9(1 EF3+)
- 1960s14(4 EF3+)
- 1950s12
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 26, 1991 | F5 | 21 mi | 46 mi | 17 / 225 |
| Mar 13, 1990 | F5 | 15 mi | 48 mi | 1 / 60 |
| May 3, 1999 | F4 | 24 mi | 24 mi | 6 / 150 |
| Jun 23, 1969 | F4 | 8 mi | 8.7 mi | 0 / 6 |
| May 6, 2015 | EF3 | 15 mi | 16.48 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 19, 2012 | EF3 | 22 mi | 9.72 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 14, 2012 | EF3 | 25 mi | 13.2 mi | 0 / 38 |
| Apr 14, 2012 | EF3 | 19 mi | 18.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 29, 2004 | F3 | 21 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 29, 2004 | F3 | 19 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 16, 1991 | F3 | 21 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 26, 1973 | F3 | 11 mi | 4.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 147, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Cheney
The Storm Prediction Center has 111 hail reports within 10 miles of Cheney since 1962, made on 70 separate days. Of these, 78 were 1 inch across or larger, and 10 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 3 inches (tea cup size), was reported on 2 days, most recently July 23, 2013. The most recent report is from June 17, 2025. May has the most reports, 39.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Cheney
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Norwich, KS, 14 miles south of Cheney at 1,501 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 44°F and 21°F. May is the wettest at 5.1 inches of precipitation on average and January and December the driest at 1.1 inches; the year adds up to 33.2 inches over 47 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 69 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 101 nights a year. Snowfall averages 6.6 inches a year, most of it in December. That 33.2 inches is more than at 41 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (40%). Garden Plain, 6 miles east, has its own station (Wichita Wx, KS): 34.6 inches a year, 1.4 more than here, and a July average high of 92°F against 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 44 | 21 | 1.1 | 2 | 1.2 |
| Feb | 49 | 25 | 1.5 | 2 | 1.1 |
| Mar | 59 | 33 | 2.3 | 4 | 1.1 |
| Apr | 68 | 43 | 3.2 | 5 | 0.0 |
| May | 78 | 54 | 5.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 88 | 64 | 4.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 93 | 69 | 3.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 91 | 67 | 3.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 84 | 59 | 2.4 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 71 | 46 | 3.1 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 57 | 33 | 1.5 | 3 | 0.6 |
| Dec | 45 | 24 | 1.1 | 2 | 2.6 |
| Year | 69 | 45 | 33.2 | 47 | 6.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Norwich, KS (1,501 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 Cheney
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 82 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Cheney: 64 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 floods, 7 heavy rain events, 1 flash flood and 1 lightning strike. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $742,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on July 23, 2013.
June 17, 2004: thunderstorm wind 1 mile from the centre of Cheney — $600,000 damage.
NWS: “Major tree damage with some minor damage to bulidings. One garage and two metal buildings were destroyed.”
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
Sedgwick County, which includes Cheney, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 tornadoes). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 29, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Sedgwick County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for tornadoes and lightning; Relatively High for hail, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $255.9 million a year, the 2nd highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $101.0 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).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Cheney
- Garden Plain, KS6 mi
- Goddard, KS12 mi
- Andale, KS13 mi
- Colwich, KS17 mi
- Haven, KS17 mi
- Kingman, KS18 mi
- Clearwater, KS18 mi
- Conway Springs, KS19 mi
- Maize, KS20 mi
- Haysville, KS25 mi
- Wichita, KS25 mi
- Sedgwick, KS27 mi
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