NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Towanda, 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 Towanda, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 165 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 11 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 165
- EF3 or stronger
- 11
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
38 deaths in all
What the records show for Towanda
The strongest of the 165 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on April 26, 1991; its path passed within a mile of the city centre, and it killed 17 people. Of the 165, 10 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 43 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 46. The most recent tornado was on September 14, 2025. Towanda has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 80% of the 171 Kansas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 350 times since 1956, with stones up to 6 inches. Towanda has more hail reports within 10 miles than 87% of the 171 Kansas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Towanda
By decade
- 2020s6(1 EF3+)
- 2010s16(1 EF3+)
- 2000s21
- 1990s36(3 EF3+)
- 1980s18
- 1970s10
- 1960s27(3 EF3+)
- 1950s31(3 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 26, 1991 | F5 | in town | 46 mi | 17 / 225 |
| Jun 10, 1958 | F4 | 3 mi | 9 mi | 15 / 5 |
| May 3, 1999 | F4 | 19 mi | 24 mi | 6 / 150 |
| Apr 29, 2022 | EF3 | 4 mi | 12.65 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Apr 14, 2012 | EF3 | 12 mi | 13.2 mi | 0 / 38 |
| May 16, 1991 | F3 | 17 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 3, 1965 | F3 | 19 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 27 |
| May 13, 1965 | F3 | 25 mi | 62.5 mi | 0 / 10 |
| May 24, 1962 | F3 | 24 mi | 18.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 7, 1958 | F3 | 18 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 18, 1950 | F3 | 24 mi | 14.9 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Sep 5, 1992 | F2 | 16 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 165, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Towanda
The Storm Prediction Center has 350 hail reports within 10 miles of Towanda since 1956, made on 176 separate days. Of these, 229 were 1 inch across or larger, and 32 reached 2 inches. The largest, 6 inches, fell on May 17, 1959. The most recent report is from July 30, 2025. May has the most reports, 91.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Towanda
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is El Dorado, KS, 9 miles east of Towanda at 1,290 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 44°F and 20°F. May is the wettest at 5.8 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 38.6 inches over 58 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 53 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 112 nights a year. Snowfall averages 4.5 inches a year, most of it in February. That 38.6 inches is more than at 74 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (72%). Benton, 5 miles west, has its own station (Wichita Jabara Airport, KS): 32.6 inches a year, 6.0 less than here, and a July average high of 92°F against 91°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 44 | 20 | 0.9 | 2 | 1.1 |
| Feb | 49 | 23 | 1.5 | 3 | 1.4 |
| Mar | 59 | 33 | 2.5 | 5 | 0.7 |
| Apr | 68 | 43 | 3.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| May | 77 | 55 | 5.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 86 | 64 | 5.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 91 | 69 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 90 | 67 | 4.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 83 | 58 | 3.6 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 71 | 45 | 3.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 58 | 33 | 1.7 | 3 | 0.2 |
| Dec | 46 | 24 | 1.3 | 3 | 1.1 |
| Year | 69 | 45 | 38.6 | 58 | 4.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at El Dorado, KS (1,290 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 Towanda
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 326 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Towanda: 249 thunderstorm wind reports, 27 heavy rain events, 26 floods, 22 flash floods and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 1 person and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $33.5 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on October 17, 2007. May has had the most flash floods, 12 of 22. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 116 have had fewer than Towanda.
March 9, 2009: flood 9 miles from the centre of Towanda — 1 killed, $10,000 damage.
May 12, 2010: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Towanda — 2 injured, $250,000 damage.
April 8, 2008: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Towanda — 1 injured, $600,000 damage.
NWS: “An intense bow echo moved across northern Butler county producing widespread wind damage from the Potwin area through Cassoday. Seventy four very large high voltage H-poles were downed along with 130 power poles and a 300 ft cell phone tower also collapsed.”
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
Butler County, which includes Towanda, has been named in 29 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 25 of them major disasters (by incident: 19 severe storms, 4 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on September 1, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Butler County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for strong wind; Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for inland flooding; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $42.3 million a year, the 7th highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $15.3 million (36%), 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 Towanda
- Benton, KS5 mi
- Augusta, KS9 mi
- Andover, KS9 mi
- El Dorado, KS10 mi
- Kechi, KS14 mi
- Park City, KS17 mi
- Rose Hill, KS17 mi
- Valley Center, KS18 mi
- Wichita, KS19 mi
- Douglass, KS20 mi
- Derby, KS21 mi
- Newton, KS24 mi
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