Kansas severe thunderstorm wind
Every recorded severe thunderstorm wind event since 1955 · 105 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 26,021 severe thunderstorm wind events in Kansas from 1955 through June 30, 2026, about 709 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the October 31, 1984 thunderstorm wind in Osage County: 4 deaths and 11 injuries across 2 records. Kansas ranks 2nd of 52 states and territories by count and 23rd of 51 per square mile.
Severe thunderstorm wind in Kansas, 1955 to 2026
Thunderstorm wind records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996.
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $1 million
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- 1996: all 48 event types recorded from 1996
- Records
- 26,0211955 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 709average
- Deaths
- 19401 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $721Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 20241,043 records
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.
Are severe thunderstorm wind events common in Kansas?
Kansas averages about 709 severe thunderstorm wind events a year since 2000, 2nd of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2024 (1,043). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Kansas records 3183 severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955, 23rd of 51 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1955, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.
Which counties in Kansas have the most severe thunderstorm wind events?
Per square mile, Wyandotte County leads Kansas: 126 days with a severe thunderstorm wind event since 1955, 830.9 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Sedgwick County has the most thunderstorm wind records (1,139 since 1955); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1955 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is the severe thunderstorm season in Kansas?
50% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1955 fell in June and July. The busiest month is June (7,611 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 13 · Feb 167 · Mar 482 · Apr 1,827 · May 4,326 · Jun 7,611 · Jul 5,351 · Aug 3,964 · Sep 1,366 · Oct 573 · Nov 179 · Dec 162 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1955.
What were the deadliest severe thunderstorm wind events in Kansas?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984-10-31 | Thunderstorm WindOsage County Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (2, in 2 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. | 4 | 11 | – | |
| 1989-07-17 | Thunderstorm WindMitchell County Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (2, in 2 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. | 3 | 0 | – | |
| 1991-05-26 | Thunderstorm WindJohnson County Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (12, in 8 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. | 1 | 12 | – | |
| 2005-07-03 | Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie, Reno County One storm episode: 15 records in 5 places, 2005-07-03 to 2005-07-04; the totals are the episode's. Report received approximately 3 hours after occurrence. Therefore, event times are estimates. Damage at Cheney Lake State Park was extensive, and included the marina, around 125 boats, 35 campers, and mobile homes. All 6 people injured by the severe thunderstorms required transport to Wichita hospitals. The ... | 70 kt wind | 1 | 6 | $23M |
| 1985-08-17 | Thunderstorm WindLyon County Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (2; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. | 1 | 6 | – | |
| 2024-07-03 | Thunderstorm WindWilson Lake, Russell County One storm episode: 6 records in 5 places, 2024-07-03 to 2024-07-04; the totals are the episode's. Storms tracked out of northwest Kansas and southwest Nebraska during the early evening hours of Wednesday July 3rd and moved into central Kansas around 11 pm. The line of storms accelerated southeast and produced a large swath of damaging winds as they tracked southeast through the overnight hours. There were multiple ... | 61 kt wind | 1 | 3 | – |
| 2004-05-29 | Thunderstorm WindGoodland, Sherman County One storm episode: 7 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. This major, widespread damaging wind event began during the afternoon as thunderstorms developed across eastern Colorado and moved into extreme NW Kansas and extreme SW Nebraska. The event transitioned from small hail events and individual thunderstorm downbursts producing minor damage to a large scale high-wind event ... | 61 kt wind | 1 | 2 | – |
| 2015-04-02 | Thunderstorm WindShallow Water, Scott County One storm episode: 6 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong shortwave trough and associated 130 knot upper jet moved across western Kansas during the afternoon and evening. At the surface frontogenesis along an secondary cold front ignited severe thunderstorms. The thunderstorms moved rapidly and developed a very pronounced Rear Inflow Jet. As a consequence, the ... | 96 kt wind | 1 | 1 | $187K |
| 2009-05-08 | Thunderstorm WindNew Albany, Wilson County One storm episode: 12 records in 8 places; the totals are the episode's. A complex of thunderstorms moved southeast out of Northwest Kansas into Central and South Central Kansas during the early morning hours of May 8th, 2009. This complex of thunmderstorms would intensify over South Central Kansas during the morning and become a prolific damaging wind producer. This swath of damaging ... | 87 kt wind | 1 | 1 | $43M |
| 2009-06-20 | Thunderstorm WindGalva, McPherson County One storm episode: 2 records; the totals are the episode's. Strong to severe thunderstorms ignited across portions of central, south-central and east-central Kansas during the afternoon and evening hours on the 20th, along and north of a warm front. The thunderstorms became supercellular as they moved north of the warm front, producing a handful of tornadoes across portions of ... | 56 kt wind | 1 | 1 | $21K |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest severe thunderstorm wind events in Kansas
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994-07-01 | Thunderstorm WindValley Center, Sedgwick County Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (57, in 39 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. | 0 | 10 | $177M | |
| 2009-05-08 | Thunderstorm WindNew Albany, Wilson County One storm episode: 12 records in 8 places; the totals are the episode's. | 87 kt wind | 1 | 1 | $43M |
| 2005-07-03 | Thunderstorm WindPretty Prairie, Reno County One storm episode: 15 records in 5 places, 2005-07-03 to 2005-07-04; the totals are the episode's. | 70 kt wind | 1 | 6 | $23M |
| 1993-05-08 | Thunderstorm WindArkansasa City, Cowley County Every thunderstorm wind record filed in the state that day (6, in 2 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. | 0 | 3 | $20M | |
| 2002-05-26 | Thunderstorm WindHarlan, Smith County One storm episode: 7 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. | 75 kt wind | 0 | 1 | $18M |
| 2014-10-02 | Thunderstorm WindBeloit, Mitchell County One storm episode: 2 records; the totals are the episode's. | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $14M |
| 1996-04-28 | Thunderstorm WindWellington, Sumner County | 0 | 0 | $13M | |
| 2003-06-28 | Thunderstorm WindLiberal, Seward County One storm episode: 2 records; the totals are the episode's. | 78 kt wind | 0 | 0 | $13M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are severe thunderstorm wind events becoming more frequent in Kansas?
Kansas's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | Kansas | United States | Kansas's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955-59 | 338 | 3,482 | 9.7% |
| 1960s | 755 | 10,124 | 7.5% |
| 1970s | 866 | 18,714 | 4.6% |
| 1980s | 1,637 | 39,604 | 4.1% |
| 1990s | 3,456 | 85,554 | 4.0% |
| 2000s | 6,812 | 129,990 | 5.2% |
| 2010s | 7,141 | 161,286 | 4.4% |
| 2020-26 | 5,016 | 126,815 | 4.0% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent severe thunderstorm wind events in Kansas
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindHoxie, Sheridan County | 51 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindColby, Thomas County | 54 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindGove County | 61 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindGrinnell, Gove County | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindCampus, Gove County | 54 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindLeoti, Wichita County | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindSt Theresa, Wichita County | 60 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindRussell Spgs, Logan County | 61 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindLeoti Airport, Wichita County | 53 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindLeoti, Wichita County | 56 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindLeoti, Wichita County | 52 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2026-06-30 | Thunderstorm WindSelkirk, Wichita County | 70 kt wind | 0 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.
Federal disaster declarations for severe thunderstorm wind events in Kansas
FEMA files hail and wind disasters under the incident type Severe Storm: 50 declarations in Kansas, 48 of them major disasters; the latest on September 1, 2026.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-01 | DR-4943 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 21 |
| 2026-09-01 | DR-4940 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 32 |
| 2026-06-30 | DR-4926 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 5 |
| 2025-12-19 | DR-4897 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 12 |
| 2025-09-11 | DR-4891 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 16 |
| 2025-07-22 | DR-4883 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 11 |
| 2025-05-21 | DR-4869 | Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, and Wildfires | 28 |
| 2024-09-24 | DR-4824 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 17 |
| 2024-08-20 | DR-4811 | Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 14 |
| 2024-07-15 | DR-4800 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 13 |
| 2023-10-26 | DR-4747 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 21 |
| 2022-02-17 | DR-4640 | Severe Storms and Straight Line Winds | 55 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Wyandotte County: the county's whole recordThe Kansas county with the most severe thunderstorm wind events per square mile
- Severe thunderstorm wind across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in KansasTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
- Hail in Kansas40,229 records
- Winter storms in Kansas7,432 records
- Tornadoes in Kansas4,965 records