NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Ottawa, 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 Ottawa, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 112 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 112
- EF3 or stronger
- 10
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
65 deaths in all
What the records show for Ottawa
The strongest of the 112 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on May 20, 1957; its path came within 3 miles, and it killed 44 people. Of the 112, 6 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 37 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 36. The most recent tornado was on June 28, 2024. Of the 171 Kansas cities on this site, 68% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Ottawa. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 166 times since 1960, with stones up to 3 inches (tea cup size). Of the 171 Kansas cities, 60% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Ottawa.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Ottawa
By decade
- 2020s6
- 2010s13(1 EF3+)
- 2000s18(1 EF3+)
- 1990s17
- 1980s13(1 EF3+)
- 1970s6(1 EF3+)
- 1960s17(4 EF3+)
- 1950s22(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 1957 | F5 | 3 mi | 69.4 mi | 44 / 207 |
| Apr 12, 1964 | F4 | 19 mi | 19.4 mi | 3 / 9 |
| May 28, 2019 | EF4 | 16 mi | 29.07 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Jun 19, 1981 | F3 | 22 mi | 7.7 mi | 1 / 33 |
| May 8, 2003 | F3 | 16 mi | 25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 4, 1977 | F3 | 14 mi | 31.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 12, 1964 | F3 | 15 mi | 33.8 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Aug 6, 1962 | F3 | 11 mi | 4.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 16, 1960 | F3 | 6 mi | 9.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 20, 1957 | F3 | 7 mi | 5.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 28, 2019 | EF2 | 15 mi | 10.69 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 8, 2003 | F2 | 25 mi | 0.7 mi | 0 / 6 |
The strongest 12 of 112, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Ottawa
The Storm Prediction Center has 166 hail reports within 10 miles of Ottawa since 1960, made on 87 separate days. Of these, 121 were 1 inch across or larger, and 13 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3 inches (tea cup size), fell on August 19, 1974. The most recent report is from April 17, 2025. May has the most reports, 44.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Ottawa
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Ottawa, KS, in Ottawa at 905 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 89°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 40°F and 18°F. May is the wettest at 5.8 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.2 inches; the year adds up to 40.0 inches over 62 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 47 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 111 nights a year. Snowfall averages 9.2 inches a year, most of it in January. That 40.0 inches is more than at 80 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (78%). Pomona, 9 miles west, has its own station (Pomona Lake, KS): 38.8 inches a year, 1.2 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 | 40 | 18 | 1.2 | 3 | 3.2 |
| Feb | 46 | 22 | 1.6 | 3 | 2.1 |
| Mar | 56 | 32 | 2.3 | 5 | 0.7 |
| Apr | 66 | 42 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| May | 75 | 53 | 5.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 84 | 63 | 5.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 89 | 68 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 88 | 65 | 4.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 80 | 56 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 69 | 44 | 3.1 | 5 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 55 | 32 | 2.4 | 4 | 0.5 |
| Dec | 43 | 22 | 1.7 | 3 | 2.6 |
| Year | 66 | 43 | 40.0 | 62 | 9.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Ottawa, KS (905 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 Ottawa
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 176 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Ottawa: 136 thunderstorm wind reports, 31 flash floods, 7 floods, 1 heavy rain event and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $5.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on June 21, 2019. June has had the most flash floods, 16 of 31. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 131 have had fewer than Ottawa.
July 1, 2007: flood in Ottawa — 1 killed, $300,000 damage.
NWS: “Rain ends but flooding continues into the new month. Many roads are flooded.”
June 28, 1999: thunderstorm wind in Ottawa — 1 injured, $70,000 damage.
NWS: “Strong winds damaged trees and blew down power lines. Falling tree limbs damaged at least 6 cars.”
August 26, 1998: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Ottawa — $3.3 million damage.
NWS: “Severe thunderstorms moved north across Franklin county producing numerous reports of damaging winds. Five planes were overturned and a business severely damaged at Ottawa airport.”
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 Ottawa's ZIP code 66067 have filed 20 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1993, and were paid $429,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 35% 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, 10 have fewer than Ottawa.
Franklin County, which includes Ottawa, has been named in 22 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 18 of them major disasters (by incident: 14 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 tornadoes, 1 flood). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on September 11, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Franklin County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $15.5 million a year, the 29th highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $7.0 million (45%), 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 Ottawa
- Pomona, KS9 mi
- Wellsville, KS11 mi
- Baldwin City, KS13 mi
- Edgerton, KS18 mi
- Overbrook, KS18 mi
- Osawatomie, KS19 mi
- Paola, KS22 mi
- Gardner, KS23 mi
- Garnett, KS23 mi
- Eudora, KS24 mi
- Lawrence, KS24 mi
- Spring Hill, KS25 mi
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