NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Halstead, 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 Halstead, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 156 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 11 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 156
- EF3 or stronger
- 11
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
12 deaths in all
What the records show for Halstead
The highest rating among the 156 tornadoes within 25 miles is F5, reached 2 times; the most recent, on March 13, 1990, came within 4 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 3, 1999, killed 6 people. Of the 156, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 33 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 59. The most recent tornado was on April 30, 2024. Halstead has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 76% of the 171 Kansas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 238 times since 1958, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Halstead has more hail reports within 10 miles than 70% of the 171 Kansas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Halstead
By decade
- 2020s2
- 2010s17(1 EF3+)
- 2000s14
- 1990s35(4 EF3+)
- 1980s21
- 1970s13(1 EF3+)
- 1960s23(4 EF3+)
- 1950s31(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 1990 | F5 | 11 mi | 22 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Mar 13, 1990 | F5 | 4 mi | 48 mi | 1 / 60 |
| May 3, 1999 | F4 | 23 mi | 24 mi | 6 / 150 |
| Jun 8, 1950 | F4 | 23 mi | 17.1 mi | 1 / 5 |
| May 6, 2015 | EF3 | 6 mi | 16.48 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Mar 13, 1990 | F3 | 14 mi | 18 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 26, 1973 | F3 | 18 mi | 4.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 4, 1965 | F3 | 14 mi | 6.9 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 13, 1965 | F3 | in town | 62.5 mi | 0 / 10 |
| May 24, 1962 | F3 | 2 mi | 18.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 28, 1960 | F3 | 17 mi | 7.1 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Sep 5, 1992 | F2 | 23 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 156, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Halstead
The Storm Prediction Center has 238 hail reports within 10 miles of Halstead since 1958, made on 142 separate days. Of these, 150 were 1 inch across or larger, and 18 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 3 inches (tea cup size), was reported on 3 days, most recently April 9, 1990. The most recent report is from September 3, 2025. May has the most reports, 71.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Halstead
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Newton, KS, 9 miles east of Halstead at 1,441 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 70°F; January is the coolest, at 42°F and 20°F. June is the wettest at 5.0 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 33.9 inches over 53 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 62 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 115 nights a year. Snowfall averages 8.8 inches a year, most of it in December. That 33.9 inches is more than at 46 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (45%). Moundridge, 13 miles north, has its own station (Mcpherson, KS): 33.7 inches a year, 0.2 less than here, and a July average high of 93°F against 92°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 42 | 20 | 0.8 | 2 | 2.1 |
| Feb | 47 | 24 | 1.3 | 3 | 1.3 |
| Mar | 57 | 33 | 2.4 | 5 | 1.2 |
| Apr | 67 | 43 | 2.9 | 5 | 0.3 |
| May | 76 | 55 | 4.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 87 | 65 | 5.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 92 | 70 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 90 | 68 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 83 | 59 | 3.0 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 70 | 46 | 2.6 | 4 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 56 | 33 | 1.7 | 3 | 0.6 |
| Dec | 44 | 24 | 1.2 | 3 | 3.2 |
| Year | 67 | 45 | 33.9 | 53 | 8.8 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Newton, KS (1,441 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 Halstead
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 165 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Halstead: 134 thunderstorm wind reports, 14 floods, 10 heavy rain events and 7 flash floods. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $2.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on May 19, 2024. June has had the most flash floods, 4 of 7. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 36 have had fewer than Halstead.
August 21, 2003: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Halstead — 1 injured, $25,000 damage.
May 24, 2007: flood in Halstead — $1.0 million damage.
NWS: “Numerous, slow-moving thunderstorms produced 4 to 6 inches of rain across extreme northwest portions of Harvey County from the late afternoon hours on May 23rd, to the early morning hours on May 24th.”
May 8, 2009: thunderstorm wind in Halstead — $178,000 damage.
NWS: “Extensive damage occurred across town with numerous large trees down and power poles down. Some roof, fence and vehicle damage was also reported across town from winds estimated between 70 and 80 mph.”
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 Halstead's ZIP code 67056 have filed 222 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $2.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 113 claims (51% of all) and $1.7 million. 51% 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, 58 have fewer than Halstead.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 113 | $1.7 million |
Harvey County, which includes Halstead, has been named in 25 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 19 of them major disasters (by incident: 16 severe storms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 fire). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on August 20, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Harvey County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes and hail; Relatively Low for inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $20.5 million a year, the 15th highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $7.9 million (38%), 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 Halstead
- Sedgwick, KS7 mi
- North Newton, KS10 mi
- Hesston, KS10 mi
- Newton, KS11 mi
- Moundridge, KS13 mi
- Valley Center, KS15 mi
- Colwich, KS15 mi
- Maize, KS16 mi
- Haven, KS17 mi
- Andale, KS17 mi
- Kechi, KS20 mi
- Park City, KS20 mi
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