NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Ulysses, 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 Ulysses, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 75 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 3 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 75
- EF3 or stronger
- 3
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Ulysses
The strongest of the 75 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F4 on May 5, 1993; its path came within 10 miles. Of the 75, 16 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 41 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 27. The most recent tornado was on June 5, 2025. Of the 171 Kansas cities on this site, 97% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Ulysses. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 206 times since 1958, with stones up to 4.25 inches. Ulysses has more hail reports within 10 miles than 54% of the 171 Kansas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Ulysses
By decade
- 2020s7
- 2010s12
- 2000s22
- 1990s14(1 EF3+)
- 1980s5
- 1970s5
- 1960s4
- 1950s6(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 1993 | F4 | 10 mi | 23 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 6, 1951 | F3 | 1 mi | 44.8 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 20, 1951 | F3 | 24 mi | 12.8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 11, 2005 | F2 | 2 mi | 13.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 6, 2001 | F2 | 7 mi | 14 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 19, 1990 | F2 | 2 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 19, 1990 | F2 | 16 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 19, 1990 | F2 | 21 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 3, 1987 | F2 | 20 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 18, 1982 | F2 | 23 mi | 48 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 18, 1977 | F2 | in town | 117.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 22, 1972 | F2 | 19 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 75, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Ulysses
The Storm Prediction Center has 206 hail reports within 10 miles of Ulysses since 1958, made on 125 separate days. Of these, 126 were 1 inch across or larger, and 15 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.25 inches, fell on June 20, 2017. The most recent report is from July 10, 2025. June has the most reports, 79.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Ulysses
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Ulysses 3NE, KS, 3 miles northeast of Ulysses at 3,094 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 46°F and 16°F. July and August are the wettest at 2.9 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 0.3 inches; the year adds up to 17.8 inches over 34 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 73 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 150 nights a year. Snowfall averages 17.8 inches a year, most of it in January. That 17.8 inches is more than at 1 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (1%). Hugoton, 27 miles south, has its own station (Hugoton, KS): 19.8 inches a year, 2.0 more than here, and a July average high of 92°F against 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 46 | 16 | 0.4 | 1 | 4.2 |
| Feb | 50 | 19 | 0.3 | 1 | 3.1 |
| Mar | 60 | 27 | 1.1 | 2 | 3.8 |
| Apr | 68 | 36 | 1.5 | 3 | 1.4 |
| May | 78 | 47 | 2.0 | 4 | 0.1 |
| Jun | 89 | 59 | 2.6 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 93 | 63 | 2.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 90 | 62 | 2.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 84 | 53 | 1.3 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 71 | 39 | 1.6 | 2 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 57 | 26 | 0.5 | 1 | 1.3 |
| Dec | 47 | 18 | 0.7 | 1 | 3.8 |
| Year | 69 | 39 | 17.8 | 34 | 17.8 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Ulysses 3NE, KS (3,094 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 Ulysses
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 116 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Ulysses: 103 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 heavy rain events, 4 flash floods and 4 floods. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $1.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 98 mph, on May 8, 2013.
June 21, 1996: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Ulysses — 2 injured, $1.0 million damage.
July 3, 2005: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Ulysses — $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Extensive roof damage, with some buldings completely unroofed. No details provided as to type and number of buildings victimized.”
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
Grant County, which includes Ulysses, has been named in 9 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 6 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 1 flood, 1 hurricane). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms and Straight Line Winds, on February 17, 2022. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Grant County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for hail; Relatively Low for tornadoes, strong wind and lightning; Very Low for inland flooding and heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $7.4 million a year, the 59th highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $970,000 (13%), 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 Ulysses
- Hugoton, KS27 mi
- Sublette, KS27 mi
- Lakin, KS30 mi
- Garden City, KS39 mi
- Holcomb, KS40 mi
- Syracuse, KS41 mi
- Liberal, KS41 mi
- Hooker, OK51 mi
- Guymon, OK58 mi
- Cimarron, KS58 mi
- Leoti, KS65 mi
- Scott City, KS67 mi
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