NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Lenexa, 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 Lenexa, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 148 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 14 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 148
- EF3 or stronger
- 14
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
49 deaths in all
What the records show for Lenexa
The strongest of the 148 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on May 20, 1957; its path came within 10 miles, and it killed 44 people. Of the 148, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 60 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 53. The most recent tornado was on June 3, 2025. Lenexa has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 69% of the 171 Kansas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 539 times since 1955, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Lenexa has more hail reports within 10 miles than 93% of the 171 Kansas cities.
Compare Lenexa's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Lenexa
By decade
- 2020s12
- 2010s22(1 EF3+)
- 2000s26(2 EF3+)
- 1990s14
- 1980s15(1 EF3+)
- 1970s8(1 EF3+)
- 1960s31(7 EF3+)
- 1950s20(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 1957 | F5 | 10 mi | 69.4 mi | 44 / 207 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 8 mi | 21 mi | 2 / 30 |
| Jun 8, 1966 | F4 | 21 mi | 19.9 mi | 1 / 2 |
| May 28, 2019 | EF4 | 11 mi | 29.07 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 24 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 13 |
| May 7, 1961 | F4 | 16 mi | 26.2 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 22, 1952 | F4 | 6 mi | 26.9 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 19, 1981 | F3 | 19 mi | 7.7 mi | 1 / 33 |
| Apr 12, 1964 | F3 | 22 mi | 14 mi | 1 / 22 |
| May 4, 1977 | F3 | 4 mi | 31.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 26, 1969 | F3 | 17 mi | 10.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
| May 15, 1968 | F3 | 23 mi | 2.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 148, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Lenexa
The Storm Prediction Center has 539 hail reports within 10 miles of Lenexa since 1955, made on 225 separate days. Of these, 372 were 1 inch across or larger, and 32 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.5 inches, fell on March 13, 2024. The most recent report is from September 16, 2025. May has the most reports, 135.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Lenexa
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Olathe 3E, KS, 5 miles south of Lenexa at 1,055 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 88°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 20°F. May is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.3 inches; the year adds up to 41.0 inches over 65 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 34 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 98 nights a year. Snowfall averages 13.8 inches a year, most of it in January. That 41.0 inches is more than at 87 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (84%). Shawnee, 4 miles north, has its own station (Bonner Springs, KS): 40.5 inches a year, 0.5 less than here, and a July average high of 87°F against 88°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 39 | 20 | 1.3 | 4 | 3.9 |
| Feb | 44 | 24 | 1.7 | 4 | 3.3 |
| Mar | 55 | 34 | 2.5 | 5 | 1.4 |
| Apr | 65 | 44 | 4.1 | 7 | 0.3 |
| May | 75 | 56 | 5.3 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 84 | 65 | 5.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 88 | 69 | 4.8 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 87 | 67 | 4.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 79 | 58 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 68 | 47 | 3.1 | 5 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 54 | 35 | 2.4 | 4 | 1.2 |
| Dec | 43 | 25 | 1.8 | 4 | 3.4 |
| Year | 65 | 45 | 41.0 | 65 | 13.8 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Olathe 3E, KS (1,055 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 Lenexa
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 423 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Lenexa: 350 thunderstorm wind reports, 52 flash floods, 11 floods, 8 heavy rain events and 2 lightning strikes. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 89 mph, on July 14, 2023. July has had the most flash floods, 14 of 52. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 154 have had fewer than Lenexa.
March 6, 2017: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Lenexa — $500,000 damage.
June 26, 2002: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Lenexa — $250,000 damage.
August 7, 1999: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Lenexa — $200,000 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 Lenexa's 4 ZIP codes have filed 27 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1982, and were paid $126,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 22% 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, 17 have fewer than Lenexa.
Johnson County, which includes Lenexa, has been named in 12 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on October 26, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Johnson County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for tornadoes and lightning; Relatively High for hail, inland flooding and heat waves; Relatively Low for strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $256.8 million a year, the highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $110.2 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.