NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Liberal, 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 Liberal, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 100 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 7 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 100
- EF3 or stronger
- 7
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
1 deaths in all
What the records show for Liberal
The strongest of the 100 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 5, 1993; its path came within 19 miles. The deadliest, an F2 on June 23, 1951, killed 1 person. Of the 100, 13 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 38 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 34. The most recent tornado was on June 17, 2023. Of the 171 Kansas cities on this site, 81% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Liberal. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 242 times since 1958, with stones up to 6 inches. Liberal has more hail reports within 10 miles than 71% of the 171 Kansas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Liberal
By decade
- 2020s4
- 2010s8(1 EF3+)
- 2000s26
- 1990s24(3 EF3+)
- 1980s9(1 EF3+)
- 1970s7(1 EF3+)
- 1960s11
- 1950s11(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 1993 | F4 | 19 mi | 23 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 16, 2015 | EF3 | 4 mi | 51.26 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 26, 1996 | F3 | 9 mi | 13 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 5, 1993 | F3 | 19 mi | 18.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 6, 1989 | F3 | 9 mi | 12 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 21, 1974 | F3 | 16 mi | 2.7 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 6, 1951 | F3 | 2 mi | 44.8 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 23, 1951 | F2 | 25 mi | 0.1 mi | 1 / 5 |
| May 15, 2003 | F2 | 1 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 15, 2003 | F2 | 13 mi | 4.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 15, 2003 | F2 | 1 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 26, 1996 | F2 | 9 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 100, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Liberal
The Storm Prediction Center has 242 hail reports within 10 miles of Liberal since 1958, made on 134 separate days. Of these, 131 were 1 inch across or larger, and 13 reached 2 inches. The largest, 6 inches, fell on July 12, 1958. The most recent report is from June 8, 2025. June has the most reports, 83.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Liberal
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Liberal, KS, 3 miles southeast of Liberal at 2,834 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 48°F and 20°F. June is the wettest at 3.3 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.4 inches; the year adds up to 21.1 inches over 38 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 128 nights a year. Snowfall averages 14.4 inches a year, most of it in December. That 21.1 inches is more than at 11 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (11%). Hooker, OK, 24 miles southwest, has its own station (Hooker, OK): 19.4 inches a year, 1.7 less than here, and a July average high of 94°F against 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 48 | 20 | 0.5 | 1 | 3.5 |
| Feb | 51 | 22 | 0.4 | 1 | 1.8 |
| Mar | 61 | 30 | 1.2 | 3 | 2.3 |
| Apr | 70 | 39 | 1.8 | 4 | 0.4 |
| May | 79 | 50 | 2.7 | 4 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 89 | 60 | 3.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 93 | 65 | 3.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 91 | 64 | 2.7 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 84 | 55 | 1.5 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 72 | 42 | 2.3 | 3 | 0.7 |
| Nov | 58 | 29 | 0.7 | 2 | 1.0 |
| Dec | 47 | 21 | 0.8 | 2 | 4.6 |
| Year | 70 | 41 | 21.1 | 38 | 14.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Liberal, KS (2,834 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 Liberal
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 133 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Liberal: 114 thunderstorm wind reports, 16 heavy rain events, 2 flash floods and 1 flood. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $431,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on August 26, 2002.
July 20, 2000: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Liberal — $150,000 damage.
NWS: “Radio tower blown down.”
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 Liberal's ZIP code 67901 have filed 38 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $97,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2003, with 11. Of the 65 Kansas cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 25 have fewer than Liberal.
Seward County, which includes Liberal, has been named in 12 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 flood, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 29, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Seward County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning; Very Low for inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $11.8 million a year, the 33rd highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.2 million (18%), is from tornadoes.
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 Liberal
- Hooker, OK24 mi
- Hugoton, KS25 mi
- Sublette, KS32 mi
- Guymon, OK38 mi
- Ulysses, KS41 mi
- Perryton, TX51 mi
- Spearman, TX63 mi
- Garden City, KS63 mi
- Cimarron, KS63 mi
- Gruver, TX63 mi
- Lakin, KS67 mi
- Dodge City, KS69 mi
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