NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Valley Falls, 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 Valley Falls, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 134 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 17 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 134
- EF3 or stronger
- 17
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
23 deaths in all
What the records show for Valley Falls
The strongest of the 134 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on June 8, 1966; its path came within 19 miles, and it killed 16 people. Of the 134, 9 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 36 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 43. The most recent tornado was on April 30, 2024. Valley Falls has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 51% of the 171 Kansas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 121 times since 1961, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 171 Kansas cities, 81% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Valley Falls.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Valley Falls
By decade
- 2020s7
- 2010s12
- 2000s17
- 1990s19
- 1980s16(2 EF3+)
- 1970s9(1 EF3+)
- 1960s37(11 EF3+)
- 1950s17(3 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 8, 1966 | F5 | 19 mi | 21.1 mi | 16 / 450 |
| Jun 8, 1966 | F4 | 19 mi | 19.9 mi | 1 / 2 |
| May 19, 1960 | F4 | 8 mi | 27.5 mi | 1 / 92 |
| Aug 6, 1962 | F4 | 12 mi | 11 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 31, 1978 | F3 | 17 mi | 37 mi | 3 / 1 |
| May 6, 1983 | F3 | 21 mi | 19 mi | 1 / 25 |
| Apr 12, 1964 | F3 | 25 mi | 14 mi | 1 / 22 |
| Apr 26, 1984 | F3 | 4 mi | 32 mi | 0 / 9 |
| Jun 11, 1967 | F3 | 6 mi | 43.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 11, 1966 | F3 | 13 mi | 9.9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 10, 1965 | F3 | 19 mi | 23.2 mi | 0 / 11 |
| Apr 12, 1964 | F3 | 16 mi | 33.8 mi | 0 / 3 |
The strongest 12 of 134, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Valley Falls
The Storm Prediction Center has 121 hail reports within 10 miles of Valley Falls since 1961, made on 72 separate days. Of these, 75 were 1 inch across or larger, and 7 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 2 days, most recently March 12, 2006. The most recent report is from June 13, 2024. June has the most reports, 29.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Valley Falls
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Valley Falls 3 SW, KS, 3 miles southwest of Valley Falls at 1,051 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 91°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 18°F. May is the wettest at 5.6 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 37.6 inches over 62 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 57 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 118 nights a year. Snowfall averages 13.5 inches a year, most of it in February. That 37.6 inches is more than at 67 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (65%). Oskaloosa, 11 miles southeast, has its own station (Oskaloosa 4 NE, KS): 38.4 inches a year, 0.8 more than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 91°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 39 | 18 | 0.9 | 3 | 3.6 |
| Feb | 45 | 20 | 1.3 | 3 | 4.4 |
| Mar | 56 | 32 | 2.3 | 5 | 1.0 |
| Apr | 67 | 42 | 3.8 | 7 | 0.1 |
| May | 76 | 54 | 5.6 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 86 | 64 | 4.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 91 | 68 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 65 | 4.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 81 | 56 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 70 | 45 | 3.0 | 5 | 0.2 |
| Nov | 55 | 33 | 1.9 | 3 | 0.9 |
| Dec | 42 | 23 | 1.6 | 3 | 3.3 |
| Year | 66 | 43 | 37.6 | 62 | 13.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Valley Falls 3 SW, KS (1,051 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 Valley Falls
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 112 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Valley Falls: 95 thunderstorm wind reports, 11 flash floods and 6 floods. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $2.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on August 19, 2011. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 61 have had fewer than Valley Falls.
October 2, 2005: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Valley Falls — 2 injured, $2.0 million 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
Jefferson County, which includes Valley Falls, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 severe storms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies, 2 tornadoes). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 29, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Jefferson County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for lightning; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $11.5 million a year, the 34th highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.0 million (52%), 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 Valley Falls
- Meriden, KS11 mi
- Oskaloosa, KS11 mi
- Mayetta, KS16 mi
- Holton, KS16 mi
- Mc Louth, KS17 mi
- Perry, KS17 mi
- Horton, KS22 mi
- Tecumseh, KS23 mi
- Atchison, KS23 mi
- Topeka, KS25 mi
- Tonganoxie, KS26 mi
- Silver Lake, KS26 mi
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