NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Gardner, 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 Gardner, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 137 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 12 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 137
- EF3 or stronger
- 12
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
47 deaths in all
What the records show for Gardner
The strongest of the 137 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on May 20, 1957; its path came within 5 miles, and it killed 44 people. Of the 137, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 50 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 48. The most recent tornado was on May 19, 2024. Gardner has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 54% of the 171 Kansas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 229 times since 1959, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Gardner has more hail reports within 10 miles than 66% of the 171 Kansas cities.
Compare Gardner's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Gardner
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s20(1 EF3+)
- 2000s21(1 EF3+)
- 1990s15
- 1980s16(1 EF3+)
- 1970s8(1 EF3+)
- 1960s23(6 EF3+)
- 1950s25(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 1957 | F5 | 5 mi | 69.4 mi | 44 / 207 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 18 mi | 21 mi | 2 / 30 |
| May 28, 2019 | EF4 | 15 mi | 29.07 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 7, 1961 | F4 | 25 mi | 26.2 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 22, 1952 | F4 | 15 mi | 26.9 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 19, 1981 | F3 | 13 mi | 7.7 mi | 1 / 33 |
| May 4, 1977 | F3 | 6 mi | 31.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 15, 1968 | F3 | 20 mi | 2.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 19, 1966 | F3 | 10 mi | 7.7 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Aug 6, 1962 | F3 | 14 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 16, 1960 | F3 | 21 mi | 9.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 15, 1960 | F3 | 22 mi | 8.4 mi | 0 / 2 |
The strongest 12 of 137, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Gardner
The Storm Prediction Center has 229 hail reports within 10 miles of Gardner since 1959, made on 138 separate days. Of these, 145 were 1 inch across or larger, and 16 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on August 19, 1974. The most recent report is from May 19, 2025. May has the most reports, 66.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Gardner
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Olathe Johnson Co Airport, KS, 2 miles northeast of Gardner at 1,087 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 20°F. June is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.1 inches; the year adds up to 37.7 inches over 60 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 44 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 110 nights a year. That 37.7 inches is more than at 68 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (66%). Olathe, 7 miles northeast, has its own station (Olathe 3E, KS): 41.0 inches a year, 3.3 more than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 89°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 39 | 20 | 1.1 | 2 |
| Feb | 44 | 24 | 1.5 | 4 |
| Mar | 56 | 34 | 2.3 | 5 |
| Apr | 66 | 44 | 3.8 | 7 |
| May | 75 | 54 | 5.1 | 8 |
| Jun | 85 | 64 | 5.3 | 7 |
| Jul | 89 | 68 | 4.2 | 5 |
| Aug | 88 | 67 | 4.0 | 6 |
| Sep | 80 | 58 | 3.7 | 5 |
| Oct | 68 | 46 | 3.3 | 6 |
| Nov | 54 | 34 | 1.9 | 3 |
| Dec | 43 | 24 | 1.5 | 3 |
| Year | 66 | 45 | 37.7 | 60 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Olathe Johnson Co Airport, KS (1,087 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 Gardner
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 174 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Gardner: 149 thunderstorm wind reports, 21 flash floods and 4 floods. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $842,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on August 18, 2011. August has had the most flash floods, 6 of 21. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 112 have had fewer than Gardner.
June 26, 2002: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Gardner — $250,000 damage.
August 7, 1999: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Gardner — $200,000 damage.
May 17, 1999: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Gardner — $150,000 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
Johnson County, which includes Gardner, has been named in 12 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on October 26, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Johnson County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for tornadoes and lightning; Relatively High for hail, inland flooding and heat waves; Relatively Low for strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $256.8 million a year, the highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $110.2 million (43%), 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.