NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lawrence, 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 Lawrence, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 163 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 18 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 163
- EF3 or stronger
- 18
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
84 deaths in all
What the records show for Lawrence
The highest rating among the 163 tornadoes within 25 miles is F5, reached 2 times; the most recent, on June 8, 1966, came within 19 miles. The deadliest, an F5 on May 20, 1957, killed 44 people. Of the 163, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 56 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 56. The most recent tornado was on May 19, 2024. Lawrence has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 78% of the 171 Kansas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 322 times since 1965, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Lawrence has more hail reports within 10 miles than 85% of the 171 Kansas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Lawrence
By decade
- 2020s8
- 2010s14(1 EF3+)
- 2000s34(2 EF3+)
- 1990s30
- 1980s11(2 EF3+)
- 1970s7(1 EF3+)
- 1960s33(10 EF3+)
- 1950s26(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 1957 | F5 | 23 mi | 69.4 mi | 44 / 207 |
| Jun 8, 1966 | F5 | 19 mi | 21.1 mi | 16 / 450 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 25 mi | 21 mi | 2 / 30 |
| Jun 8, 1966 | F4 | 15 mi | 19.9 mi | 1 / 2 |
| May 19, 1960 | F4 | 21 mi | 27.5 mi | 1 / 92 |
| May 28, 2019 | EF4 | 4 mi | 29.07 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 7, 1961 | F4 | 23 mi | 26.2 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 22, 1952 | F4 | 3 mi | 26.9 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 6, 1983 | F3 | 18 mi | 19 mi | 1 / 25 |
| Jun 19, 1981 | F3 | in town | 7.7 mi | 1 / 33 |
| Apr 12, 1964 | F3 | 23 mi | 14 mi | 1 / 22 |
| May 8, 2003 | F3 | 23 mi | 25 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 163, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lawrence
The Storm Prediction Center has 322 hail reports within 10 miles of Lawrence since 1965, made on 152 separate days. Of these, 214 were 1 inch across or larger, and 29 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 3 inches (tea cup size), was reported on 2 days, most recently March 26, 1991. The most recent report is from April 30, 2024. May has the most reports, 80.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lawrence
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Lawrence, KS, 1 mile east of Lawrence at 1,050 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 70°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 19°F. June is the wettest at 5.7 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 39.4 inches over 61 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 42 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 103 nights a year. Snowfall averages 10.4 inches a year, most of it in February. That 39.4 inches is more than at 79 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (77%). Eudora, 11 miles east, has its own station (Lawrence Municipal Airport, KS): 35.6 inches a year, 3.8 less than here, and a July average high of 91°F against 89°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 38 | 19 | 1.0 | 2 | 2.1 |
| Feb | 44 | 23 | 1.5 | 4 | 3.3 |
| Mar | 55 | 33 | 2.3 | 5 | 0.8 |
| Apr | 65 | 44 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.1 |
| May | 74 | 56 | 5.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 84 | 65 | 5.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 89 | 70 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 87 | 68 | 4.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 79 | 59 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 67 | 47 | 3.2 | 5 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 54 | 34 | 2.0 | 3 | 0.9 |
| Dec | 42 | 24 | 1.6 | 3 | 2.9 |
| Year | 65 | 45 | 39.4 | 61 | 10.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Lawrence, 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 Lawrence
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 324 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lawrence: 262 thunderstorm wind reports, 54 flash floods, 7 floods and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 8, and the NWS estimated $9.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on March 12, 2006. June has had the most flash floods, 16 of 54. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 156 have had fewer than Lawrence.
March 12, 2006: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Lawrence — 3 injured, $8.0 million damage.
NWS: “A large portion of the city sustained damage. The governor issued a State of Disaster Emergency for Douglas County.”
May 16, 1997: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Lawrence — 2 injured, $10,000 damage.
May 30, 1999: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Lawrence — 2 injured, $5,000 damage.
NWS: “Strong winds damaged 7 trailers and injured 2 people at Clinton Lake Park.”
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 Lawrence's 4 ZIP codes have filed 125 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 15 claims (12% of all) and $161,000. The year with the most claims was 1996, with 44. 12% 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, 48 have fewer than Lawrence.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 15 | $161,000 |
Douglas County, which includes Lawrence, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 13 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 2 tornadoes). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 29, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Douglas County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hail; Relatively Low for inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $46.3 million a year, the 5th highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $20.1 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.
Cities near Lawrence
- Eudora, KS11 mi
- Linwood, KS12 mi
- Perry, KS12 mi
- Baldwin City, KS12 mi
- Tonganoxie, KS15 mi
- Berryton, KS16 mi
- De Soto, KS16 mi
- Tecumseh, KS16 mi
- Mc Louth, KS17 mi
- Oskaloosa, KS18 mi
- Overbrook, KS19 mi
- Edgerton, KS20 mi
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