NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Wamego, 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 Wamego, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 113 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 113
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
7 deaths in all
What the records show for Wamego
The highest rating among the 113 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on June 11, 2008, came within 14 miles. The deadliest, an F3 on May 31, 1978, killed 3 people. Of the 113, 11 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 44 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 36. The most recent tornado was on May 19, 2025. Of the 171 Kansas cities on this site, 67% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Wamego. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 170 times since 1959, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 171 Kansas cities, 58% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Wamego.
Compare Wamego's storm record with another city →
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Wamego
By decade
- 2020s15(1 EF3+)
- 2010s17
- 2000s12(1 EF3+)
- 1990s29
- 1980s7
- 1970s6(1 EF3+)
- 1960s11(3 EF3+)
- 1950s16(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 1960 | F4 | 20 mi | 27.5 mi | 1 / 92 |
| Jun 11, 2008 | EF4 | 14 mi | 8.64 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 19, 1960 | F4 | 5 mi | 20.6 mi | 0 / 12 |
| May 31, 1978 | F3 | 8 mi | 37 mi | 3 / 1 |
| Apr 30, 2024 | EF3 | 13 mi | 2.24 mi | 1 / 4 |
| Jun 8, 1966 | F3 | 24 mi | 13.8 mi | 0 / 50 |
| Apr 2, 1956 | F3 | 24 mi | 127 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 10, 1953 | F3 | 25 mi | 52.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 11, 2008 | EF2 | 19 mi | 17.28 mi | 2 / 0 |
| Mar 13, 2024 | EF2 | 19 mi | 4.94 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 13, 2024 | EF2 | 18 mi | 8.14 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 11, 2022 | EF2 | 14 mi | 0.32 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 113, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Wamego
The Storm Prediction Center has 170 hail reports within 10 miles of Wamego since 1959, made on 98 separate days. Of these, 127 were 1 inch across or larger, and 12 reached 2 inches. The largest size, 2.75 inches (baseball size), was reported on 4 days, most recently June 13, 2024. The most recent report is from April 28, 2025. June has the most reports, 68.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Wamego
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Wamego 4 W, KS, 3 miles west of Wamego at 1,166 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 68°F; January is the coolest, at 39°F and 18°F. June is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.7 inches; the year adds up to 34.9 inches over 57 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 49 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 119 nights a year. Snowfall averages 16.9 inches a year, most of it in February. That 34.9 inches is more than at 53 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (51%). Manhattan, 15 miles west, has its own station (Manhattan, KS): 35.7 inches a year, 0.8 more than 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 | 39 | 18 | 0.7 | 2 | 4.8 |
| Feb | 45 | 21 | 1.2 | 3 | 5.0 |
| Mar | 56 | 31 | 2.1 | 4 | 1.8 |
| Apr | 67 | 42 | 3.5 | 6 | 0.2 |
| May | 76 | 53 | 5.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 85 | 63 | 5.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 90 | 68 | 4.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 65 | 4.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 81 | 56 | 2.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 69 | 43 | 2.4 | 5 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 55 | 31 | 1.7 | 3 | 0.8 |
| Dec | 43 | 22 | 1.3 | 3 | 4.0 |
| Year | 66 | 43 | 34.9 | 57 | 16.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Wamego 4 W, KS (1,166 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 Wamego
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 138 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Wamego: 115 thunderstorm wind reports, 19 flash floods, 3 floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $1.1 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on April 29, 2022. June has had the most flash floods, 11 of 19. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 102 have had fewer than Wamego.
May 15, 1998: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Wamego — 2 injured, $25,000 damage.
April 19, 2002: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Wamego — $227,000 damage.
NWS: “Strong winds damaged many homes and residences in Wamego.”
May 24, 2007: flash flood 6 miles from the centre of Wamego — $200,000 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
Pottawatomie County, which includes Wamego, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1967, 16 of them major disasters (by incident: 14 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods, 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 Pottawatomie County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $15.8 million a year, the 28th highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.2 million (39%), 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.