NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Manhattan, 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 Manhattan, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 106 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 106
- EF3 or stronger
- 6
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
5 deaths in all
What the records show for Manhattan
The highest rating among the 106 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on June 11, 2008, passed within a mile of the city centre. The deadliest, an F3 on May 31, 1978, killed 3 people. Of the 106, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 44 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 29. The most recent tornado was on April 28, 2025. Of the 171 Kansas cities on this site, 74% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Manhattan. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 228 times since 1956, with stones up to 4.25 inches. Manhattan has more hail reports within 10 miles than 65% of the 171 Kansas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Manhattan
By decade
- 2020s12(1 EF3+)
- 2010s16
- 2000s16(2 EF3+)
- 1990s23
- 1980s6
- 1970s5(1 EF3+)
- 1960s11(2 EF3+)
- 1950s17
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 11, 2008 | EF4 | in town | 8.64 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 19, 1960 | F4 | 14 mi | 20.6 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 31, 1978 | F3 | 14 mi | 37 mi | 3 / 1 |
| Apr 30, 2024 | EF3 | 15 mi | 2.24 mi | 1 / 4 |
| Jun 11, 2008 | EF3 | 22 mi | 15.26 mi | 1 / 3 |
| Jun 8, 1966 | F3 | 10 mi | 13.8 mi | 0 / 50 |
| Mar 13, 2024 | EF2 | 20 mi | 8.14 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 11, 2022 | EF2 | in town | 0.32 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 13, 1990 | F2 | 15 mi | 55 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 18, 1979 | F2 | 13 mi | 54.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Oct 18, 1979 | F2 | 14 mi | 71.4 mi | 0 / 11 |
| Mar 7, 1974 | F2 | 22 mi | 108.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 106, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Manhattan
The Storm Prediction Center has 228 hail reports within 10 miles of Manhattan since 1956, made on 118 separate days. Of these, 171 were 1 inch across or larger, and 23 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.25 inches, fell on June 2, 2008. The most recent report is from April 28, 2025. June has the most reports, 93.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Manhattan
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Manhattan, KS, in Manhattan at 1,060 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 40°F and 19°F. June is the wettest at 5.5 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.6 inches; the year adds up to 35.7 inches over 57 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 59 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 125 nights a year. Snowfall averages 17.6 inches a year, most of it in February. That 35.7 inches is more than at 58 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (56%). Saint George, 9 miles east, has its own station (Wamego 4 W, KS): 34.9 inches a year, 0.8 less than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 91°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 40 | 19 | 0.6 | 2 | 4.8 |
| Feb | 45 | 22 | 1.1 | 3 | 5.0 |
| Mar | 56 | 32 | 2.2 | 4 | 1.8 |
| Apr | 66 | 42 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.1 |
| May | 76 | 54 | 5.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 86 | 64 | 5.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 91 | 69 | 4.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 66 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 81 | 57 | 3.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 69 | 44 | 2.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 55 | 32 | 1.6 | 4 | 1.1 |
| Dec | 43 | 23 | 1.2 | 3 | 4.8 |
| Year | 66 | 44 | 35.7 | 57 | 17.6 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Manhattan, KS (1,060 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 Manhattan
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 198 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Manhattan: 157 thunderstorm wind reports, 36 flash floods, 3 lightning strikes, 1 flood and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 0 people and injured 6, and the NWS estimated $24.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 115 mph, on June 11, 2022. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 138 have had fewer than Manhattan.
September 3, 2018: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Manhattan — 3 injured, $17.2 million damage.
NWS: “Residents in the city of Keats were being evacuated due to the rapidly rising water on Wildcat Creek. 2 million dollars in losses to property.”
May 15, 1998: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Manhattan — 2 injured, $25,000 damage.
March 24, 1996: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Manhattan — 1 injured, $50,000 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 Manhattan's 2 ZIP codes have filed 412 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1981, and were paid $9.4 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 215 claims (52% of all) and $1.8 million, then Late spring storms in 2011 with 47. 64% 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, 62 have fewer than Manhattan.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 215 | $1.8 million |
| Late spring storms2011 | 47 | $2.0 million |
Riley County, which includes Manhattan, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1966, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 13 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 1, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Riley County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail and inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $29.4 million a year, the 10th highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $13.1 million (44%), 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 Manhattan
- Saint George, KS9 mi
- Fort Riley, KS14 mi
- Wamego, KS15 mi
- Junction City, KS18 mi
- Saint Marys, KS28 mi
- Clay Center, KS32 mi
- Abilene, KS38 mi
- Council Grove, KS38 mi
- Silver Lake, KS39 mi
- Herington, KS40 mi
- Auburn, KS45 mi
- Marysville, KS45 mi
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