NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Silver Lake, 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 Silver Lake, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 139 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 13 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 139
- EF3 or stronger
- 13
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
29 deaths in all
What the records show for Silver Lake
The strongest of the 139 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on June 8, 1966; its path came within 11 miles, and it killed 16 people. Of the 139, 13 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 41 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 51. The most recent tornado was on April 28, 2025. Silver Lake has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 59% of the 171 Kansas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 229 times since 1960, with stones up to 4 inches (softball size). Silver Lake has more hail reports within 10 miles than 66% of the 171 Kansas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Silver Lake
By decade
- 2020s10
- 2010s19
- 2000s12
- 1990s30
- 1980s16(1 EF3+)
- 1970s11(2 EF3+)
- 1960s24(8 EF3+)
- 1950s17(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 8, 1966 | F5 | 11 mi | 21.1 mi | 16 / 450 |
| Jun 8, 1974 | F4 | 16 mi | 37.5 mi | 6 / 177 |
| May 19, 1960 | F4 | 4 mi | 27.5 mi | 1 / 92 |
| Aug 6, 1962 | F4 | 20 mi | 11 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 19, 1960 | F4 | 6 mi | 20.6 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 31, 1978 | F3 | 20 mi | 37 mi | 3 / 1 |
| May 6, 1983 | F3 | 13 mi | 19 mi | 1 / 25 |
| Jun 11, 1967 | F3 | 10 mi | 43.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 11, 1966 | F3 | 4 mi | 9.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 26, 1962 | F3 | 14 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 19, 1960 | F3 | 24 mi | 11.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 2, 1956 | F3 | 3 mi | 127 mi | 0 / 4 |
The strongest 12 of 139, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Silver Lake
The Storm Prediction Center has 229 hail reports within 10 miles of Silver Lake since 1960, made on 119 separate days. Of these, 166 were 1 inch across or larger, and 9 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4 inches (softball size), fell on May 19, 1960. The most recent report is from May 19, 2025. May has the most reports, 68.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Silver Lake
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Topeka Municipal Airport, KS, 13 miles east of Silver Lake at 876 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 40°F and 20°F. May is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 36.7 inches over 60 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 50 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 114 nights a year. Snowfall averages 17.1 inches a year, most of it in February. That 36.7 inches is more than at 63 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (61%). Saint Marys, 12 miles west, has its own station (Wamego 4 W, KS): 34.9 inches a year, 1.8 less than here, and the same July average high, 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 40 | 20 | 0.9 | 2 | 4.6 |
| Feb | 46 | 24 | 1.3 | 3 | 5.2 |
| Mar | 57 | 34 | 2.3 | 5 | 1.7 |
| Apr | 67 | 44 | 3.8 | 7 | 0.1 |
| May | 76 | 55 | 5.2 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 86 | 65 | 4.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 90 | 69 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 67 | 4.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 81 | 58 | 3.5 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 69 | 45 | 2.9 | 5 | 0.4 |
| Nov | 55 | 33 | 1.8 | 3 | 1.0 |
| Dec | 44 | 24 | 1.5 | 3 | 4.1 |
| Year | 67 | 45 | 36.7 | 60 | 17.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Topeka Municipal Airport, KS (876 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 Silver Lake
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 216 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Silver Lake: 178 thunderstorm wind reports, 31 flash floods, 5 floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $95,000 in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on May 17, 2022. July has had the most flash floods, 10 of 31. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 131 have had fewer than Silver Lake.
June 26, 2024: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Silver Lake — 2 injured.
NWS: “KHP reports a semi truck was blown off of I-70 due to high winds. Two occupants were treated for minor injuries.”
May 10, 2008: lightning strike 4 miles from the centre of Silver Lake — 1 injured.
NWS: “A 15-year-old girl was struck by lightning when a bolt hit near her home, traveled through the steel plumbing, and into the shower nozzle. The girl was taking a shower at the time she was struck.”
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
Shawnee County, which includes Silver Lake, has been named in 17 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1966, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on April 28, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Shawnee County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hail, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $74.5 million a year, the 3rd highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $40.0 million (54%), 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 Silver Lake
- Topeka, KS11 mi
- Saint Marys, KS12 mi
- Mayetta, KS15 mi
- Auburn, KS15 mi
- Meriden, KS17 mi
- Tecumseh, KS18 mi
- Berryton, KS21 mi
- Carbondale, KS23 mi
- Holton, KS24 mi
- Perry, KS25 mi
- Wamego, KS25 mi
- Valley Falls, KS26 mi
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