NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Kansas City, 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 Kansas City, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 143 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 15 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 143
- EF3 or stronger
- 15
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
50 deaths in all
What the records show for Kansas City
The strongest of the 143 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on May 20, 1957; its path came within 16 miles, and it killed 44 people. Of the 143, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 62 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 52. The most recent tornado was on June 3, 2025. Kansas City has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 62% of the 171 Kansas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 691 times since 1955, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Kansas City has more hail reports within 10 miles than 98% of the 171 Kansas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Kansas City
By decade
- 2020s13
- 2010s23(1 EF3+)
- 2000s26(3 EF3+)
- 1990s10
- 1980s14
- 1970s13(2 EF3+)
- 1960s30(7 EF3+)
- 1950s14(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 1957 | F5 | 16 mi | 69.4 mi | 44 / 207 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 2 mi | 21 mi | 2 / 30 |
| Jun 8, 1966 | F4 | 13 mi | 19.9 mi | 1 / 2 |
| May 28, 2019 | EF4 | 12 mi | 29.07 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 15 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 13 |
| May 4, 1977 | F4 | 23 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 5 |
| May 7, 1961 | F4 | 7 mi | 26.2 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 22, 1952 | F4 | 3 mi | 26.9 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jan 24, 1967 | F3 | 24 mi | 14.5 mi | 2 / 18 |
| Apr 12, 1964 | F3 | 18 mi | 14 mi | 1 / 22 |
| May 2, 2008 | EF3 | 17 mi | 0.92 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 4, 1977 | F3 | 15 mi | 31.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 143, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Kansas City
The Storm Prediction Center has 691 hail reports within 10 miles of Kansas City since 1955, made on 290 separate days. Of these, 461 were 1 inch across or larger, and 38 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on June 22, 2003. The most recent report is from September 16, 2025. May has the most reports, 194.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Kansas City
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Kansas City Downtown Airport, MO, 6 miles east of Kansas City at 742 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 72°F; January is the coolest, at 40°F and 22°F. June is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 38.1 inches over 60 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 47 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 93 nights a year. Snowfall averages 11.0 inches a year, most of it in December. That 38.1 inches is more than at 71 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (69%). Shawnee, 7 miles southwest, has its own station (Bonner Springs, KS): 40.5 inches a year, 2.4 more than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 40 | 22 | 1.0 | 2 | 3.4 |
| Feb | 45 | 26 | 1.5 | 3 | 3.2 |
| Mar | 57 | 36 | 2.1 | 5 | 0.4 |
| Apr | 67 | 46 | 3.9 | 7 | 0.1 |
| May | 76 | 57 | 5.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 86 | 67 | 5.3 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 90 | 72 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 70 | 4.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 80 | 61 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 68 | 49 | 3.2 | 5 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 55 | 36 | 1.8 | 3 | 0.1 |
| Dec | 44 | 27 | 1.3 | 3 | 3.5 |
| Year | 66 | 48 | 38.1 | 60 | 11.0 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Kansas City Downtown Airport, MO (742 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 Kansas City
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 600 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Kansas City: 458 thunderstorm wind reports, 114 flash floods, 20 floods, 7 heavy rain events and 1 lightning strike. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on June 23, 1998. August has had the most flash floods, 33 of 114. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 166 have had fewer than Kansas City.
March 12, 2006: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Kansas City — $250,000 damage.
March 12, 2006: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Kansas City — $150,000 damage.
June 29, 1998: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Kansas City — $100,000 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 Kansas City's 9 ZIP codes have filed 361 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $9.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 54 claims (15% of all) and $2.5 million. The year with the most claims was 1998, with 61. 19% 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, 60 have fewer than Kansas City.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 54 | $2.5 million |
Wyandotte County, which includes Kansas City, has been named in 26 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 16 severe storms, 5 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding, on December 19, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Wyandotte County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for strong wind; Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $68.5 million a year, the 4th highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $21.7 million (32%), 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 Kansas City
- Riverside, MO6 mi
- Mission, KS6 mi
- Westwood, KS7 mi
- Shawnee, KS7 mi
- Parkville, MO7 mi
- North Kansas City, MO7 mi
- Kansas City, MO8 mi
- Prairie Village, KS10 mi
- Lenexa, KS11 mi
- Bonner Springs, KS11 mi
- Basehor, KS13 mi
- Overland Park, KS14 mi
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