NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Plainville, 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 Plainville, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 125 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 10 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 125
- EF3 or stronger
- 10
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Plainville
The strongest of the 125 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 10, 1985; its path came within 15 miles. Of the 125, 12 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 60 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 51. The most recent tornado was on May 28, 2019. Of the 171 Kansas cities on this site, 54% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Plainville. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 111 times since 1962, with stones up to 6 inches. Of the 171 Kansas cities, 89% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Plainville.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Plainville
By decade
- 2010s18
- 2000s42
- 1990s19(3 EF3+)
- 1980s11(3 EF3+)
- 1970s16
- 1960s10(3 EF3+)
- 1950s9(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 1985 | F4 | 15 mi | 33 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 16, 1998 | F3 | 14 mi | 26 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 11, 1991 | F3 | 16 mi | 6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 25, 1990 | F3 | 6 mi | 37 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 10, 1985 | F3 | 6 mi | 30 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 10, 1985 | F3 | 19 mi | 10 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 24, 1969 | F3 | 23 mi | 47 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 13, 1968 | F3 | 7 mi | 140.4 mi | 0 / 5 |
| Aug 31, 1964 | F3 | 20 mi | 8.3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 11, 1954 | F3 | 20 mi | 8.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 8, 2016 | EF2 | 9 mi | 6.88 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 23, 2008 | EF2 | 25 mi | 8.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 125, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Plainville
The Storm Prediction Center has 111 hail reports within 10 miles of Plainville since 1962, made on 75 separate days. Of these, 84 were 1 inch across or larger, and 9 reached 2 inches. The largest, 6 inches, fell on May 27, 1962. The most recent report is from September 14, 2025. May has the most reports, 36.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Plainville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Plainville 4WNW, KS, 4 miles northwest of Plainville at 2,194 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 65°F; January is the coolest, at 41°F and 17°F. May is the wettest at 4.1 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.6 inches; the year adds up to 26.1 inches over 46 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 57 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 142 nights a year. Snowfall averages 19.7 inches a year, most of it in February. That 26.1 inches is more than at 20 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (19%). Hays, 23 miles south, has its own station (Hays, KS): 25.0 inches a year, 1.1 less than here, and a July average high of 93°F against 91°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 41 | 17 | 0.6 | 2 | 4.8 |
| Feb | 45 | 20 | 0.8 | 2 | 5.4 |
| Mar | 56 | 29 | 1.4 | 3 | 2.0 |
| Apr | 65 | 38 | 2.2 | 5 | 1.2 |
| May | 75 | 49 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 86 | 60 | 3.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 91 | 65 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 64 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 81 | 55 | 2.2 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 69 | 41 | 1.7 | 3 | 0.6 |
| Nov | 55 | 29 | 1.2 | 2 | 1.9 |
| Dec | 43 | 20 | 1.0 | 2 | 3.7 |
| Year | 66 | 40 | 26.1 | 46 | 19.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Plainville 4WNW, KS (2,194 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 Plainville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 43 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Plainville: 32 thunderstorm wind reports, 6 flash floods, 4 heavy rain events and 1 flood. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $3.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 83 mph, on May 1, 2024. August has had the most flash floods, 3 of 6. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 31 have had fewer than Plainville.
August 29, 2019: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Plainville — $1.5 million damage.
NWS: “A 71 MPH wind gust was measured by a mesonet site located near Plainville. Emergency management and media confirmed considerable tree damage in Plainville, along with a roof blown off of a former lumberyard and all but the bottom section of a county communications tower toppled to the ground.”
August 29, 2019: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Plainville — $650,000 damage.
NWS: “Law enforcement estimated wind gusts to be between 70 and 80 MPH. Emergency management reported power lines down in and around Zurich.”
June 15, 2002: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Plainville — $525,000 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
Rooks County, which includes Plainville, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1993, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 12 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 snowstorms, 1 fire). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, and Wildfires, on May 21, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Rooks 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 $8.2 million a year, the 50th highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $3.2 million (40%), 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 Plainville
- Hays, KS23 mi
- Ellis, KS25 mi
- Russell, KS34 mi
- Wakeeney, KS34 mi
- Phillipsburg, KS41 mi
- Smith Center, KS49 mi
- Norton, KS53 mi
- Hoisington, KS54 mi
- Great Bend, KS65 mi
- Ellsworth, KS67 mi
- Beloit, KS68 mi
- Larned, KS72 mi
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