NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Wichita, 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 Wichita, Kansas since records began in 1851. Since 1950, 170 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 15 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 0
- Tornadoes
- 170
- EF3 or stronger
- 15
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
38 deaths in all
What the records show for Wichita
The strongest of the 170 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on April 26, 1991; its path came within 6 miles, and it killed 17 people. Of the 170, 22 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 40 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 53. The most recent tornado was on April 30, 2024. Wichita has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 86% of the 171 Kansas cities on this site. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 780 times since 1955, with stones up to 7.75 inches. Wichita has more hail reports within 10 miles than any other of the 171 Kansas cities.
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Tornadoes within 25 miles of Wichita
By decade
- 2020s2(1 EF3+)
- 2010s21(2 EF3+)
- 2000s17(1 EF3+)
- 1990s35(3 EF3+)
- 1980s24
- 1970s11(1 EF3+)
- 1960s27(5 EF3+)
- 1950s33(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 26, 1991 | F5 | 6 mi | 46 mi | 17 / 225 |
| Jun 10, 1958 | F4 | 20 mi | 9 mi | 15 / 5 |
| May 3, 1999 | F4 | in town | 24 mi | 6 / 150 |
| Jun 23, 1969 | F4 | 11 mi | 8.7 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Apr 29, 2022 | EF3 | 9 mi | 12.65 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 6, 2015 | EF3 | 20 mi | 16.48 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 14, 2012 | EF3 | 6 mi | 13.2 mi | 0 / 38 |
| Jun 12, 2004 | F3 | 16 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 16, 1991 | F3 | 9 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 26, 1973 | F3 | 12 mi | 4.3 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 3, 1965 | F3 | 3 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 27 |
| May 13, 1965 | F3 | 6 mi | 62.5 mi | 0 / 10 |
The strongest 12 of 170, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Wichita
The Storm Prediction Center has 780 hail reports within 10 miles of Wichita since 1955, made on 292 separate days. Of these, 538 were 1 inch across or larger, and 64 reached 2 inches. The largest, 7.75 inches, fell on September 15, 2010. The most recent report is from September 3, 2025. May has the most reports, 278.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Wichita
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Wichita, KS, 6 miles west of Wichita at 1,335 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 70°F; January is the coolest, at 44°F and 23°F. May is the wettest at 5.2 inches of precipitation on average and January the driest at 0.9 inches; the year adds up to 34.5 inches over 52 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 65 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 103 nights a year. Snowfall averages 12.7 inches a year, most of it in February. That 34.5 inches is more than at 50 of the 103 Kansas stations used on this site (49%). Park City, 5 miles north, has its own station (Wichita Jabara Airport, KS): 32.6 inches a year, 1.9 less 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 | 44 | 23 | 0.9 | 2 | 2.7 |
| Feb | 49 | 26 | 1.2 | 3 | 3.6 |
| Mar | 59 | 36 | 2.3 | 4 | 2.1 |
| Apr | 68 | 45 | 3.1 | 5 | 0.2 |
| May | 78 | 56 | 5.2 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 88 | 66 | 4.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 93 | 70 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 91 | 69 | 4.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 83 | 60 | 3.1 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 71 | 47 | 2.9 | 4 | 0.2 |
| Nov | 57 | 35 | 1.4 | 3 | 0.8 |
| Dec | 46 | 25 | 1.2 | 2 | 3.1 |
| Year | 69 | 46 | 34.5 | 52 | 12.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Wichita, KS (1,335 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 Wichita
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 762 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Wichita: 585 thunderstorm wind reports, 67 flash floods, 62 floods, 36 heavy rain events and 12 lightning strikes. They killed 0 people and injured 10, and the NWS estimated $12.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 102 mph, on June 17, 2025. June has had the most flash floods, 16 of 67. Of the 169 Kansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 161 have had fewer than Wichita.
April 2, 2015: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Wichita — 2 injured, $50,000 damage.
June 27, 2013: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Wichita — 2 injured, $10,000 damage.
November 9, 1998: thunderstorm wind 4 miles from the centre of Wichita — 1 injured, $50,000 damage.
NWS: “One mobile home was rolled over. The occupent suffered a broken collar bone when the water bed he was sleeping in rolled on top of him.”
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 Wichita's 22 ZIP codes have filed 674 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $11.3 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Ike in 2008: 64 claims (9% of all) and $1.7 million. The year with the most claims was 1998, with 84. 13% 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, 64 have fewer than Wichita.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Ike2008 | 64 | $1.7 million |
Sedgwick County, which includes Wichita, has been named in 18 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 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 Sedgwick County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for tornadoes and lightning; Relatively High for hail, inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $255.9 million a year, the 2nd highest of 105 Kansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $101.0 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 Wichita
- Park City, KS5 mi
- Kechi, KS8 mi
- Maize, KS9 mi
- Haysville, KS9 mi
- Derby, KS10 mi
- Valley Center, KS11 mi
- Andover, KS12 mi
- Colwich, KS13 mi
- Goddard, KS13 mi
- Rose Hill, KS14 mi
- Clearwater, KS15 mi
- Benton, KS15 mi
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