NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Wellington, 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 Wellington, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 154 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 16 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 154
- EF3 or stronger
- 16
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
44 deaths in all
What the records show for Wellington
The highest rating among the 154 tornadoes within 25 miles is F5, reached 2 times; the most recent, on April 26, 1991, came within 14 miles. The deadliest, an F5 on May 25, 1955, killed 20 people. Of the 154, 14 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 61 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 68. The most recent tornado was on July 17, 2021. Wellington has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 73% of the 171 Kansas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 155 times since 1956, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Of the 171 Kansas cities, 66% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Wellington.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Wellington
By decade
- 2020s1
- 2010s28(3 EF3+)
- 2000s32(3 EF3+)
- 1990s37(6 EF3+)
- 1980s14
- 1970s9
- 1960s16(3 EF3+)
- 1950s17(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 25, 1955 | F5 | 19 mi | 28.4 mi | 20 / 280 |
| Apr 26, 1991 | F5 | 14 mi | 46 mi | 17 / 225 |
| May 3, 1999 | F4 | 4 mi | 24 mi | 6 / 150 |
| Apr 26, 1991 | F4 | 20 mi | 25 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Jun 23, 1969 | F4 | 23 mi | 8.7 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Mar 16, 1965 | F4 | 18 mi | 82.7 mi | 0 / 7 |
| Apr 14, 2012 | EF3 | 20 mi | 13.2 mi | 0 / 38 |
| Apr 14, 2012 | EF3 | 16 mi | 18.11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 10, 2010 | EF3 | 19 mi | 40.66 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Jun 12, 2004 | F3 | 17 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 29, 2004 | F3 | 11 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 29, 2004 | F3 | 14 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 154, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Wellington
The Storm Prediction Center has 155 hail reports within 10 miles of Wellington since 1956, made on 90 separate days. Of these, 109 were 1 inch across or larger, and 8 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.5 inches, fell on June 2, 1971. The most recent report is from June 17, 2025. May has the most reports, 59.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Wellington
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Wellington, KS, in Wellington at 1,224 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 44°F and 22°F. May is the wettest at 5.3 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 1.0 inches; the year adds up to 36.2 inches over 52 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 67 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 108 nights a year. Snowfall averages 9.2 inches a year, most of it in December. That 36.2 inches is more than at 60 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (58%). Belle Plaine, 11 miles northeast, has its own station (Haysville 3SE, KS): 38.4 inches a year, 2.2 more than here, and the same July average high, 92°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 44 | 22 | 1.0 | 2 | 2.6 |
| Feb | 49 | 25 | 1.3 | 3 | 2.0 |
| Mar | 59 | 34 | 2.5 | 4 | 1.5 |
| Apr | 68 | 43 | 3.1 | 5 | 0.0 |
| May | 77 | 54 | 5.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 87 | 65 | 5.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 92 | 69 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 91 | 68 | 4.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 83 | 59 | 3.1 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 71 | 47 | 3.3 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 57 | 34 | 1.8 | 3 | 0.3 |
| Dec | 45 | 25 | 1.3 | 3 | 2.8 |
| Year | 68 | 45 | 36.2 | 52 | 9.2 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Wellington, KS (1,224 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 Wellington
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 108 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Wellington: 87 thunderstorm wind reports, 12 flash floods and 9 floods. They killed 0 people and injured 9, and the NWS estimated $2.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 90 mph, on July 16, 1997. May has had the most flash floods, 7 of 12. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 70 have had fewer than Wellington.
August 28, 2025: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Wellington — 6 injured.
NWS: “A dispatcher reported water over Interstate 35 somewhere between mile markers 19 and 21. The interstate was closed for a period of time to allow the water to recede.”
August 17, 2010: flood 1 mile from the centre of Wellington — 3 injured, $15,000 damage.
NWS: “Rainfall amounts of 2 to 3 inches flooded several streets in Wellington and Belle Plaine and adjacent rural areas during the morning hours on the 17th. Several streets were closed by local law enforcement in Wellington.”
May 8, 2019: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Wellington — $2.1 million damage.
NWS: “Interstate 35 or the Kansas Turnpike was closed due the Slate Creek reaching record levels and overflowing the highway at mile marker 21. The interstate was closed for hours, as crews waited for the water to recede and repair work to occur.”
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 Wellington's ZIP code 67152 have filed 11 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1980, and were paid $261,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 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, 0 have fewer than Wellington.
Sumner County, which includes Wellington, has been named in 27 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 23 of them major disasters (by incident: 20 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 Sumner County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail and strong wind; Relatively Low for inland flooding and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes and lightning. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $17.1 million a year, the 23rd highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.6 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.
Cities near Wellington
- Belle Plaine, KS11 mi
- Conway Springs, KS16 mi
- Mulvane, KS17 mi
- Clearwater, KS18 mi
- Udall, KS19 mi
- Haysville, KS20 mi
- Derby, KS22 mi
- Winfield, KS24 mi
- Arkansas City, KS25 mi
- Rose Hill, KS26 mi
- Goddard, KS28 mi
- Douglass, KS28 mi
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