NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Holton, 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 Holton, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 126 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 12 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 126
- EF3 or stronger
- 12
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
6 deaths in all
What the records show for Holton
The highest rating among the 126 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on August 6, 1962, came within 1 mile. The deadliest, an F3 on May 31, 1978, killed 3 people. Of the 126, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 34 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 41. The most recent tornado was on April 30, 2024. Of the 171 Kansas cities on this site, 53% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Holton. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 122 times since 1962, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Of the 171 Kansas cities, 81% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Holton.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Holton
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s11(1 EF3+)
- 2000s14
- 1990s26
- 1980s15(1 EF3+)
- 1970s6(1 EF3+)
- 1960s26(6 EF3+)
- 1950s19(3 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 1960 | F4 | 18 mi | 27.5 mi | 1 / 92 |
| Aug 6, 1962 | F4 | 1 mi | 11 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 19, 1960 | F4 | 24 mi | 20.6 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 31, 1978 | F3 | in town | 37 mi | 3 / 1 |
| May 28, 2013 | EF3 | 24 mi | 4.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 26, 1984 | F3 | 16 mi | 32 mi | 0 / 9 |
| Jun 11, 1967 | F3 | 11 mi | 43.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 11, 1966 | F3 | 19 mi | 9.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 19, 1960 | F3 | 22 mi | 11.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 18, 1959 | F3 | 25 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 2, 1956 | F3 | 12 mi | 127 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 5, 1950 | F3 | 12 mi | 17.3 mi | 0 / 12 |
The strongest 12 of 126, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Holton
The Storm Prediction Center has 122 hail reports within 10 miles of Holton since 1962, made on 78 separate days. Of these, 80 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on June 11, 1969. The most recent report is from April 23, 2025. June has the most reports, 32.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Holton
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Holton, KS, 2 miles west of Holton at 1,050 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 37°F and 15°F. May is the wettest at 5.0 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.8 inches; the year adds up to 37.5 inches over 61 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 38 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 131 nights a year. That 37.5 inches is more than at 66 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (64%). Valley Falls, 16 miles southeast, has its own station (Valley Falls 3 SW, KS): 37.6 inches a year, the same as here, and a July average high of 91°F against 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 37 | 15 | 0.8 | 3 |
| Feb | 43 | 20 | 1.3 | 3 |
| Mar | 54 | 29 | 2.2 | 5 |
| Apr | 64 | 40 | 3.7 | 7 |
| May | 74 | 51 | 5.0 | 8 |
| Jun | 83 | 62 | 4.9 | 7 |
| Jul | 88 | 66 | 4.8 | 6 |
| Aug | 86 | 64 | 4.4 | 6 |
| Sep | 79 | 55 | 3.8 | 6 |
| Oct | 67 | 41 | 3.3 | 5 |
| Nov | 53 | 30 | 1.8 | 4 |
| Dec | 41 | 20 | 1.5 | 3 |
| Year | 64 | 41 | 37.5 | 61 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Holton, KS (1,050 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 Holton
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 86 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Holton: 72 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 flash floods and 5 floods. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $1.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on April 29, 2022. May has had the most flash floods, 4 of 9. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 50 have had fewer than Holton.
October 2, 2005: flash flood 3 miles from the centre of Holton — 1 injured, $700,000 damage.
NWS: “Highway 16 closed near Denison as well as between Birmingham and Holton due to deep fast flowing water over the road. Many other county roads also closed due to fast flowing deep water.”
May 22, 2008: flash flood 10 miles from the centre of Holton — $250,000 damage.
NWS: “Water was reported to be running over roadways across portions of the county. M Road was littered with debris as a result of water flowing over the road.”
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
Jackson County, which includes Holton, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 13 severe storms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 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 Jackson County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $7.7 million a year, the 57th highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $3.2 million (41%), 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 Holton
- Mayetta, KS9 mi
- Valley Falls, KS16 mi
- Horton, KS16 mi
- Meriden, KS20 mi
- Silver Lake, KS24 mi
- Saint Marys, KS27 mi
- Oskaloosa, KS27 mi
- Hiawatha, KS28 mi
- Topeka, KS30 mi
- Sabetha, KS30 mi
- Perry, KS30 mi
- Seneca, KS31 mi
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