NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lakin, 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 Lakin, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 116 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 4 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 116
- EF3 or stronger
- 4
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Lakin
The highest rating among the 116 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 4 times; the most recent, on June 22, 1999, came within 24 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on June 23, 1967, killed 1 person. Of the 116, 9 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 44 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 54. The most recent tornado was on May 3, 2024. Of the 171 Kansas cities on this site, 65% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Lakin. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 221 times since 1956, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Lakin has more hail reports within 10 miles than 60% of the 171 Kansas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Lakin
By decade
- 2020s4
- 2010s28
- 2000s12
- 1990s36(2 EF3+)
- 1980s5
- 1970s8
- 1960s14(1 EF3+)
- 1950s9(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 23, 1967 | F3 | 10 mi | 35.6 mi | 1 / 30 |
| Jun 22, 1999 | F3 | 24 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 16, 1995 | F3 | 21 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 20, 1951 | F3 | 8 mi | 12.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 11, 2005 | F2 | 18 mi | 13.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 19, 1990 | F2 | 25 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 18, 1977 | F2 | 18 mi | 117.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 28, 1973 | F2 | 16 mi | 7.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 17, 1971 | F2 | 19 mi | 5.6 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Jun 10, 1954 | F2 | 9 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 20, 1951 | F2 | 2 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 24, 2024 | EF1 | 23 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 116, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lakin
The Storm Prediction Center has 221 hail reports within 10 miles of Lakin since 1956, made on 118 separate days. Of these, 134 were 1 inch across or larger, and 8 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently April 22, 2010. The most recent report is from August 3, 2025. June has the most reports, 61.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lakin
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lakin, KS, 4 miles south of Lakin at 2,998 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 94°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 46°F and 20°F. June is the wettest at 3.3 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 0.4 inches; the year adds up to 19.0 inches over 36 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 81 days a year, almost all from April to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 137 nights a year. Snowfall averages 19.4 inches a year, most of it in January. That 19.0 inches is more than at 3 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (3%). Holcomb, 15 miles northeast, has its own station (Garden City Exp Stn, KS): 19.6 inches a year, 0.6 more than here, and a July average high of 93°F against 94°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 46 | 20 | 0.4 | 1 | 5.0 |
| Feb | 50 | 22 | 0.4 | 1 | 3.4 |
| Mar | 60 | 30 | 1.0 | 3 | 3.4 |
| Apr | 68 | 39 | 1.6 | 3 | 1.4 |
| May | 79 | 50 | 2.4 | 5 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 90 | 61 | 3.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 94 | 66 | 2.8 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 92 | 64 | 2.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 85 | 55 | 1.3 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 71 | 42 | 1.6 | 3 | 0.7 |
| Nov | 58 | 29 | 0.6 | 1 | 1.1 |
| Dec | 47 | 21 | 0.7 | 1 | 4.2 |
| Year | 70 | 42 | 19.0 | 36 | 19.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Lakin, KS (2,998 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 Lakin
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 119 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lakin: 100 thunderstorm wind reports, 15 heavy rain events, 2 flash floods and 2 floods. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $3.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on October 21, 2008.
October 21, 2008: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Lakin — 2 injured, $3.6 million damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds were estimated to be from 90 to 100 mph. A mobile home was destroyed and another was heavily damaged.”
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
Kearny County, which includes Lakin, has been named in 11 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 8 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 flood, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on September 24, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Kearny County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for hail and strong wind; Very Low for tornadoes, inland flooding, lightning and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $5.7 million a year, the 81st highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $718,000 (13%), is from hail.
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 Lakin
- Holcomb, KS15 mi
- Garden City, KS24 mi
- Syracuse, KS29 mi
- Ulysses, KS30 mi
- Leoti, KS36 mi
- Scott City, KS38 mi
- Sublette, KS40 mi
- Cimarron, KS52 mi
- Hugoton, KS56 mi
- Liberal, KS67 mi
- Dodge City, KS70 mi
- Lamar, CO74 mi
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