NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Shawnee, 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 Shawnee, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 146 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 14 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 146
- EF3 or stronger
- 14
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
49 deaths in all
What the records show for Shawnee
The strongest of the 146 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on May 20, 1957; its path came within 13 miles, and it killed 44 people. Of the 146, 8 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 59 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 51. The most recent tornado was on June 3, 2025. Shawnee has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 66% of the 171 Kansas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 581 times since 1955, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Shawnee has more hail reports within 10 miles than 94% of the 171 Kansas cities.
Compare Shawnee's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Shawnee
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s24(1 EF3+)
- 2000s26(3 EF3+)
- 1990s13
- 1980s15(1 EF3+)
- 1970s10(1 EF3+)
- 1960s31(6 EF3+)
- 1950s18(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 1957 | F5 | 13 mi | 69.4 mi | 44 / 207 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 5 mi | 21 mi | 2 / 30 |
| Jun 8, 1966 | F4 | 18 mi | 19.9 mi | 1 / 2 |
| May 28, 2019 | EF4 | 10 mi | 29.07 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 4, 2003 | F4 | 21 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 13 |
| May 7, 1961 | F4 | 13 mi | 26.2 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 22, 1952 | F4 | 3 mi | 26.9 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Jun 19, 1981 | F3 | 21 mi | 7.7 mi | 1 / 33 |
| Apr 12, 1964 | F3 | 20 mi | 14 mi | 1 / 22 |
| May 2, 2008 | EF3 | 24 mi | 0.92 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 4, 1977 | F3 | 7 mi | 31.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 26, 1969 | F3 | 13 mi | 10.1 mi | 0 / 5 |
The strongest 12 of 146, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Shawnee
The Storm Prediction Center has 581 hail reports within 10 miles of Shawnee since 1955, made on 241 separate days. Of these, 406 were 1 inch across or larger, and 32 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.5 inches, fell on March 13, 2024. The most recent report is from September 16, 2025. May has the most reports, 152.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Shawnee
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Bonner Springs, KS, 8 miles northwest of Shawnee at 850 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 67°F; January is the coolest, at 38°F and 18°F. June is the wettest at 5.5 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.2 inches; the year adds up to 40.5 inches over 65 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 34 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 127 nights a year. Snowfall averages 17.4 inches a year, most of it in February. That 40.5 inches is more than at 82 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (80%). Lenexa, 4 miles south, has its own station (Olathe 3E, KS): 41.0 inches a year, 0.5 more than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 38 | 18 | 1.2 | 3 | 5.0 |
| Feb | 43 | 22 | 1.6 | 4 | 5.1 |
| Mar | 55 | 31 | 2.5 | 5 | 1.5 |
| Apr | 65 | 42 | 4.0 | 7 | 0.1 |
| May | 73 | 53 | 5.2 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 83 | 64 | 5.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 87 | 67 | 4.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 86 | 65 | 4.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 78 | 57 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 67 | 44 | 3.4 | 5 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 54 | 32 | 2.2 | 4 | 1.1 |
| Dec | 42 | 22 | 1.6 | 3 | 4.3 |
| Year | 64 | 43 | 40.5 | 65 | 17.4 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Bonner Springs, KS (850 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 Shawnee
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 498 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Shawnee: 412 thunderstorm wind reports, 64 flash floods, 12 floods, 9 heavy rain events and 1 lightning strike. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $1.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 89 mph, on July 14, 2023. August has had the most flash floods, 20 of 64. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 158 have had fewer than Shawnee.
June 26, 2002: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Shawnee — $250,000 damage.
August 7, 1999: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Shawnee — $200,000 damage.
May 17, 1999: thunderstorm wind 10 miles from the centre of Shawnee — $150,000 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 Shawnee's 5 ZIP codes have filed 110 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $2.2 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 13 claims (12% of all) and $620,000, then Not a named storm in 1982 with 12. The year with the most claims was 1998, with 28. 27% 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, 45 have fewer than Shawnee.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 13 | $620,000 |
| Not a named storm1982 | 12 | $90,000 |
Johnson County, which includes Shawnee, has been named in 12 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on October 26, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Johnson County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for tornadoes and lightning; Relatively High for hail, inland flooding and heat waves; Relatively Low for strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $256.8 million a year, the highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $110.2 million (43%), 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.