NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Topeka, 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 Topeka, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 155 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 17 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 155
- EF3 or stronger
- 17
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
43 deaths in all
What the records show for Topeka
The strongest of the 155 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on June 8, 1966; its path came within 1 mile, and it killed 16 people. The deadliest, an F1 on June 17, 1978, killed 16 people. Of the 155, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 53 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 57. The most recent tornado was on May 19, 2024. Topeka has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 75% of the 171 Kansas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 450 times since 1956, with stones up to 5.25 inches. Topeka has more hail reports within 10 miles than 91% of the 171 Kansas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Topeka
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s21(1 EF3+)
- 2000s23(1 EF3+)
- 1990s29
- 1980s15(2 EF3+)
- 1970s10(2 EF3+)
- 1960s30(9 EF3+)
- 1950s18(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 8, 1966 | F5 | 1 mi | 21.1 mi | 16 / 450 |
| Jun 8, 1974 | F4 | 13 mi | 37.5 mi | 6 / 177 |
| May 19, 1960 | F4 | 11 mi | 27.5 mi | 1 / 92 |
| May 28, 2019 | EF4 | 23 mi | 29.07 mi | 0 / 4 |
| Aug 6, 1962 | F4 | 24 mi | 11 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 19, 1960 | F4 | 16 mi | 20.6 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 6, 1983 | F3 | 3 mi | 19 mi | 1 / 25 |
| Jun 19, 1981 | F3 | 24 mi | 7.7 mi | 1 / 33 |
| May 8, 2003 | F3 | 25 mi | 25 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 4, 1977 | F3 | 24 mi | 31.6 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jun 11, 1967 | F3 | 9 mi | 43.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 11, 1966 | F3 | 10 mi | 9.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 155, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Topeka
The Storm Prediction Center has 450 hail reports within 10 miles of Topeka since 1956, made on 222 separate days. Of these, 315 were 1 inch across or larger, and 41 reached 2 inches. The largest, 5.25 inches, fell on May 21, 2011. The most recent report is from April 23, 2025. May has the most reports, 136.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Topeka
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Topeka Municipal Airport, KS, 5 miles northeast of Topeka 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%). Berryton, 11 miles southeast, has its own station (Topeka Forbes Field, KS): 36.7 inches a year, the same as here, and a July average high of 91°F against 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 Topeka
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 467 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Topeka: 387 thunderstorm wind reports, 67 flash floods, 8 floods, 4 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. They killed 1 person and injured 17, and the NWS estimated $12.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on August 14, 2024. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 161 have had fewer than Topeka.
August 17, 2007: lightning strike 2 miles from the centre of Topeka — 1 killed, 1 injured.
NWS: “A woman was struck by lightning near the 2700 block on SW Villa West Dr. in Topeka.”
October 1, 2005: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Topeka — 6 injured, $2.2 million damage.
NWS: “Water rushing over the road as deep as mailboxes in the 3800 block of Tecumseh Rd.”
May 7, 2007: heavy rain event 9 miles from the centre of Topeka — 6 injured, $50,000 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 Topeka's 14 ZIP codes have filed 187 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $2.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Midwest Flooding in 1993: 15 claims (8% of all) and $55,000. The year with the most claims was 2007, with 58. 9% 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, 55 have fewer than Topeka.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Midwest Flooding1993 | 15 | $55,000 |
Shawnee County, which includes Topeka, 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 Topeka
- Tecumseh, KS8 mi
- Silver Lake, KS11 mi
- Berryton, KS11 mi
- Auburn, KS11 mi
- Meriden, KS14 mi
- Carbondale, KS15 mi
- Perry, KS17 mi
- Overbrook, KS20 mi
- Mayetta, KS21 mi
- Saint Marys, KS23 mi
- Oskaloosa, KS24 mi
- Lawrence, KS24 mi
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