NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Oberlin, 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 Oberlin, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 105 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 105
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Oberlin
The highest rating among the 105 tornadoes within 25 miles is F3, reached 2 times; the most recent, on June 14, 1970, came within 16 miles. Of the 105, 13 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 45 have come since 2000. June has had the most tornadoes, 39. The most recent tornado was on July 6, 2024. Of the 171 Kansas cities on this site, 75% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Oberlin. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 153 times since 1960, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Of the 171 Kansas cities, 67% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Oberlin.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Oberlin
By decade
- 2020s10
- 2010s11
- 2000s24
- 1990s30
- 1980s9
- 1970s5(1 EF3+)
- 1960s10(1 EF3+)
- 1950s6
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 14, 1970 | F3 | 16 mi | 17.2 mi | 0 / 5 |
| May 4, 1965 | F3 | 18 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 9, 2015 | EF2 | 11 mi | 18.75 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 22, 2008 | EF2 | 24 mi | 9.37 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 10, 1996 | F2 | 25 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 12, 1983 | F2 | 9 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 5, 1972 | F2 | 14 mi | 2.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 5, 1972 | F2 | 20 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 27, 1952 | F2 | 23 mi | 1.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 24, 1951 | F2 | 17 mi | 3.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 23, 2022 | EF1 | 17 mi | 5.62 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 26, 2021 | EF1 | 20 mi | 3.51 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 105, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Oberlin
The Storm Prediction Center has 153 hail reports within 10 miles of Oberlin since 1960, made on 100 separate days. Of these, 92 were 1 inch across or larger, and 12 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on May 7, 1986. The most recent report is from June 19, 2025. June has the most reports, 45.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Oberlin
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Oberlin, KS, 1 mile southeast of Oberlin at 2,586 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 64°F; January is the coolest, at 42°F and 16°F. May and July are the wettest at 3.3 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.4 inches; the year adds up to 21.8 inches over 45 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 55 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 164 nights a year. Snowfall averages 25.2 inches a year, most of it in February. That 21.8 inches is more than at 13 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (13%). Mc Cook, NE, 28 miles north, has its own station (Mc Cook, NE): 22.8 inches a year, 1.0 more than here, and the same July average high, 91°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 42 | 16 | 0.4 | 1 | 5.7 |
| Feb | 45 | 18 | 0.7 | 2 | 6.2 |
| Mar | 56 | 26 | 1.0 | 3 | 3.4 |
| Apr | 65 | 36 | 2.1 | 4 | 1.9 |
| May | 74 | 47 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.2 |
| Jun | 86 | 58 | 3.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 91 | 64 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 62 | 3.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 81 | 51 | 1.7 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 68 | 38 | 1.7 | 3 | 1.3 |
| Nov | 54 | 25 | 0.8 | 2 | 2.3 |
| Dec | 43 | 17 | 0.7 | 2 | 4.2 |
| Year | 66 | 38 | 21.8 | 45 | 25.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Oberlin, KS (2,586 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 Oberlin
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 92 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Oberlin: 88 thunderstorm wind reports, 3 flash floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $186,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 105 mph, on September 16, 2024.
May 29, 2004: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Oberlin — 1 killed, 1 injured.
NWS: “Widespread tree damage in town with 6-8 inch diameter branches down. Near zero visibility in blowing dirt resulted in a fatal accident on interstate-70 when the driver slowed down due to reduced visibility and was hit from behind.”
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
Decatur County, which includes Oberlin, has been named in 12 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 2004, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane, 1 snowstorm). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on September 1, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Decatur County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes; Very Low for 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 80th highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $2.0 million (36%), 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 Oberlin
- Mc Cook, NE28 mi
- Norton, KS32 mi
- Colby, KS40 mi
- Oakley, KS52 mi
- Phillipsburg, KS64 mi
- Wakeeney, KS66 mi
- Goodland, KS73 mi
- Holdrege, NE74 mi
- Imperial, NE77 mi
- Cozad, NE77 mi
- Plainville, KS78 mi
- Lexington, NE78 mi
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