Pawnee County Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
Hot Kansas Rankings
The chance of earthquake damage in Pawnee County is about the same as Kansas average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Pawnee County is higher than Kansas average and is much higher than the national average.
Earthquake Index, #67
| Pawnee County | 0.01 |
| Kansas | 0.05 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #1
| Pawnee County | 0.0000 |
| Kansas | 0.0000 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #18
| Pawnee County | 276.71 |
| Kansas | 252.53 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 17,463 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Pawnee County were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 24 | Cold: | 18 | Dense Fog: | 0 | Drought: | 17 |
| Dust Storm: | 1 | Flood: | 458 | Hail: | 10,912 | Heat: | 16 | Heavy Snow: | 69 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 0 | Ice Storm: | 28 | Landslide: | 0 | Strong Wind: | 150 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 5,194 | Tropical Storm: | 0 | Wildfire: | 2 | Winter Storm: | 103 | Winter Weather: | 53 |
| Other: | 418 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Pawnee County.
Historical Earthquake Events
No historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Pawnee County.
No historical earthquake events found in or near Pawnee County.
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 98 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Pawnee County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 7.4 | 1988-05-02 | 2 | 38°12'N / 99°25'W | 38°12'N / 99°19'W | 5.00 Miles | 70 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Pawnee |
| 8.1 | 1974-08-30 | 2 | 38°21'N / 99°15'W | 38°15'N / 99°11'W | 7.70 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Pawnee |
| 11.9 | 1950-05-04 | 4 | 38°02'N / 99°07'W | 38°16'N / 98°55'W | 19.30 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Barton |
| 13.7 | 1956-10-29 | 3 | 38°06'N / 99°29'W | 38°19'N / 99°29'W | 14.90 Miles | 440 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Pawnee |
| 14.0 | 2001-04-21 | 2 | 38°23'N / 99°12'W | 38°23'N / 99°12'W | 1.50 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 200K | 0 | Rush |
| Brief Description: Two farms received heavy damage (grain bins, roofs, shed and vehicle) | |||||||||||
| 14.1 | 1970-06-13 | 2 | 38°08'N / 99°31'W | 38°15'N / 99°28'W | 8.40 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Pawnee |
| 15.0 | 1958-07-26 | 2 | 38°02'N / 99°26'W | 1.00 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Edwards | |
| 15.5 | 1958-06-12 | 2 | 37°59'N / 99°06'W | 0 | 3 | 25K | 0 | Edwards | |||
| 15.7 | 1972-04-30 | 3 | 38°13'N / 99°30'W | 38°27'N / 99°24'W | 17.00 Miles | 77 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Pawnee |
| 16.1 | 2004-03-27 | 3 | 37°58'N / 99°29'W | 38°05'N / 99°25'W | 8.50 Miles | 1300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 480K | 50K | Edwards |
| Brief Description: This tornado became very large and dusty. Several farms were hit with minor damage to other outbuildings across it's path. One farm sustained a direct hit. Five equipment buildings were destroyed and the house was knocked from it's foundation. Trees were mangled and debarked. A stock trailer was blown 3/4 of a mile from it's original location and an oil tank was rolled .3 of a mile. A stack of hay bales was demolished with the remnants piled 10 feet thick in a grove of trees. One large cedar tree was carried about a mile. As the tornado was dissipating, it crossed into Pawnee county at a location 12 miles north of Kinsley. | |||||||||||
| 16.5 | 1962-05-28 | 2 | 38°18'N / 98°58'W | 1.50 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Barton | |
| 17.0 | 1970-06-13 | 3 | 37°57'N / 99°28'W | 38°03'N / 99°25'W | 7.30 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Edwards |
| 17.1 | 2008-05-23 | 2 | 37°55'N / 99°23'W | 38°00'N / 99°21'W | 5.00 Miles | 125 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Edwards |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: EF2 damage was done to trees and a barn and two pivot sprinklers received EF1 damage. EPISODE NARRATIVE: An anonymously strong upper level system allowed everything to come together at the surface to produced what is perhaps the biggest tornado outbreak to ever occur in the Dodge City CWA! Fifty-five tornadoes were documented during that afternoon and evening! Some of the tornadoes were very large and damaging. The character of the supercell thunderstorms that day had similarities to the storms that produced the Greensburg tornado a little over a year after. In fact there was one tornado that was just as large and perhaps could have been just as damaging that was headed towards the small Kiowa county town but fortunately turned and dissipated. | |||||||||||
| 17.1 | 1971-05-09 | 3 | 38°00'N / 99°31'W | 37°59'N / 99°21'W | 9.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Edwards |
| 18.0 | 2008-05-23 | 2 | 37°57'N / 99°01'W | 38°00'N / 99°03'W | 3.00 Miles | 1160 Yards | 0 | 1 | 0K | 0K | Edwards |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This tornado moved out of Stafford county and did EF2 damage to a house and barn just west of the Stafford/Edwards county line. A Female received a serious injury when she was blown down the stairs. Pivot sprinklers and trees received EF1-2 damage. The tornado started in the southeast part of Edwards county, moved into Pratt and Stafford and then turned northwest before ending in the extreme northeast part of the county. EPISODE NARRATIVE: An anonymously strong upper level system allowed everything to come together at the surface to produced what is perhaps the biggest tornado outbreak to ever occur in the Dodge City CWA! Fifty-five tornadoes were documented during that afternoon and evening! Some of the tornadoes were very large and damaging. The character of the supercell thunderstorms that day had similarities to the storms that produced the Greensburg tornado a little over a year after. In fact there was one tornado that was just as large and perhaps could have been just as damaging that was headed towards the small Kiowa county town but fortunately turned and dissipated. | |||||||||||
| 19.0 | 1973-09-25 | 3 | 37°48'N / 99°18'W | 38°01'N / 99°06'W | 18.50 Miles | 60 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Edwards |
| 21.2 | 1964-06-10 | 2 | 38°28'N / 99°05'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Rush | |||
| 21.5 | 2007-05-05 | 2 | 37°59'N / 98°53'W | 38°07'N / 98°52'W | 9.00 Miles | 880 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Stafford |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This wedge tornado was occurring simultaneously to another large but smaller tornado (within several miles). Damage was done to houses, trees and pivot irrigation sprinklers. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Unbelievably, an outbreak of tornadoes, some very large in size, raked the earth in basically the same area as the day before when Greensburg was nearly completely leveled. Although some of the tornadoes were large and apparently very strong, there was no loss of life on this day. A National Weather Service assessment team was in an area about 30 minutes before a tornado moved through. They also saw one tornado during the storm survey of damage that was produced the day before. | |||||||||||
| 22.2 | 1968-06-18 | 3 | 38°30'N / 99°18'W | 0.50 Mile | 220 Yards | 0 | 8 | 250K | 0 | Rush | |
| 22.9 | 1973-04-30 | 2 | 38°28'N / 99°27'W | 0.20 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Rush | |
| 23.9 | 2007-05-04 | 3 | 37°54'N / 98°57'W | 38°06'N / 98°46'W | 17.00 Miles | 1515 Yards | 1 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Stafford |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This killer tornado formed just east of another large but dissipating tornado that was approaching Macksville. Unfortunately a law officer watching the dissipating tornado was unaware that this one was rapidly forming and could not get out of harms way. His car was thrown at least 1/4 of a mile and was found in a field. He died several days later from catastrophic injuries received in the crushed vehicle. EF3 damage was done to over a dozen farms, trees, machinery, vehicles, pivot irrigation sprinklers and power poles. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A destructive tornado, the first 5 rating on the new Enhanced-Fujita Scale and the first 5 classification since May 3, 1999 when an F5 tornado ripped through Moore, Oklahoma occurred on this day. There were 12 tornadoes during about a 4 hour period, one a little over 2 miles wide! Two of the tornadoes existed for over 1 hour as they churned up the ground, leveling homes and causing fatalities along their path. Miraculously, on 13 people perished, 11 in Greensburg - a miracle because over 90 percent of the town of Greensburg was literately wiped off the face of the earth. Another round of tornadoes occurred the following day across generally the same area. Nearly 250 pivot irrigation sprinklers were damaged or destroyed during the 2 day outbreak. Due to the number of sprinklers involved and the lack of replacements, some farmers would be out of service for over 1 year. | |||||||||||
| 24.0 | 1950-05-04 | 4 | 38°16'N / 98°55'W | 38°27'N / 98°47'W | 14.50 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Pawnee |
| 24.0 | 2008-05-23 | 3 | 37°49'N / 99°00'W | 37°57'N / 99°01'W | 9.00 Miles | 1900 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Stafford |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This large tornado moved out of Pratt county and did EF3 damage before moving into Edwards county. EF3 damage was done to trees and a pivot sprinkler. Other pivot sprinklers received EF1-2 damage along with EF2 damage done to a house and grain bins. EPISODE NARRATIVE: An anonymously strong upper level system allowed everything to come together at the surface to produced what is perhaps the biggest tornado outbreak to ever occur in the Dodge City CWA! Fifty-five tornadoes were documented during that afternoon and evening! Some of the tornadoes were very large and damaging. The character of the supercell thunderstorms that day had similarities to the storms that produced the Greensburg tornado a little over a year after. In fact there was one tornado that was just as large and perhaps could have been just as damaging that was headed towards the small Kiowa county town but fortunately turned and dissipated. | |||||||||||
| 24.1 | 2007-05-05 | 2 | 37°49'N / 99°00'W | 38°00'N / 98°55'W | 13.00 Miles | 880 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Stafford |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This tornado did EF2 damage to farms, trees and pivot irrigation sprinklers. It was very large in size. It eventually moved into Pawnee county at 1905 CST. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Unbelievably, an outbreak of tornadoes, some very large in size, raked the earth in basically the same area as the day before when Greensburg was nearly completely leveled. Although some of the tornadoes were large and apparently very strong, there was no loss of life on this day. A National Weather Service assessment team was in an area about 30 minutes before a tornado moved through. They also saw one tornado during the storm survey of damage that was produced the day before. | |||||||||||
| 24.6 | 1951-06-21 | 2 | 38°32'N / 99°19'W | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Rush | |||
| 25.1 | 2009-06-15 | 2 | 37°54'N / 99°01'W | 37°54'N / 98°52'W | 9.00 Miles | 1400 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Stafford |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This was a multiple vortex tornado that moved out of Edwards county at 609 PM CDT. It did high end EF2 damage to trees, crops, pivot irrigation sprinklers and a barn. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Severe thunderstorms broke out in the afternoon heat and became quite intense by evening producing large hail, high winds and tornadoes. | |||||||||||
| 26.1 | 2008-05-23 | 2 | 37°48'N / 99°33'W | 37°54'N / 99°22'W | 13.00 Miles | 950 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Edwards |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This tornado moved out of Ford county at 22:19 CDT. It took down power poles, overturned pivot irrigation sprinklers and produced low end EF2 damage to outbuildings and a house. EPISODE NARRATIVE: An anonymously strong upper level system allowed everything to come together at the surface to produced what is perhaps the biggest tornado outbreak to ever occur in the Dodge City CWA! Fifty-five tornadoes were documented during that afternoon and evening! Some of the tornadoes were very large and damaging. The character of the supercell thunderstorms that day had similarities to the storms that produced the Greensburg tornado a little over a year after. In fact there was one tornado that was just as large and perhaps could have been just as damaging that was headed towards the small Kiowa county town but fortunately turned and dissipated. | |||||||||||
| 26.2 | 2007-05-04 | 3 | 37°49'N / 98°57'W | 37°55'N / 98°59'W | 7.00 Miles | 2110 Yards | 0 | 1 | 0K | 0K | Stafford |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This tornado moved out of northwest Pratt county and dissipated just south of Macksville. It did strong EF3 damage to farms, trees, machinery and vehicles. A Blazer was carried over 3/4 of a mile and was barely recognizable as a vehicle. Several dozen head of cattle were killed along with wildlife in the area. One well built home was completely swept off it's foundation. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A destructive tornado, the first 5 rating on the new Enhanced-Fujita Scale and the first 5 classification since May 3, 1999 when an F5 tornado ripped through Moore, Oklahoma occurred on this day. There were 12 tornadoes during about a 4 hour period, one a little over 2 miles wide! Two of the tornadoes existed for over 1 hour as they churned up the ground, leveling homes and causing fatalities along their path. Miraculously, on 13 people perished, 11 in Greensburg - a miracle because over 90 percent of the town of Greensburg was literately wiped off the face of the earth. Another round of tornadoes occurred the following day across generally the same area. Nearly 250 pivot irrigation sprinklers were damaged or destroyed during the 2 day outbreak. Due to the number of sprinklers involved and the lack of replacements, some farmers would be out of service for over 1 year. | |||||||||||
| 26.2 | 1964-04-22 | 3 | 37°57'N / 98°53'W | 38°16'N / 98°38'W | 25.70 Miles | 880 Yards | 0 | 2 | 0K | 0 | Stafford |
| 26.3 | 1972-04-30 | 4 | 38°16'N / 99°43'W | 38°18'N / 99°41'W | 2.30 Miles | 77 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Ness |
| 26.6 | 2007-05-04 | 3 | 37°43'N / 99°07'W | 37°54'N / 99°07'W | 13.00 Miles | 3872 Yards | 0 | 1 | 1.5M | 0K | Edwards |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This 2.2 wide monster moved out of Kiowa county at 2231 CST. It caused high end EF3 damage to farms, trees, machinery, pivot sprinklers and power lines. It killed dozens of cattle and horses. As the tornado dissipated, it curved back to the west. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A destructive tornado, the first 5 rating on the new Enhanced-Fujita Scale and the first 5 classification since May 3, 1999 when an F5 tornado ripped through Moore, Oklahoma occurred on this day. There were 12 tornadoes during about a 4 hour period, one a little over 2 miles wide! Two of the tornadoes existed for over 1 hour as they churned up the ground, leveling homes and causing fatalities along their path. Miraculously, on 13 people perished, 11 in Greensburg - a miracle because over 90 percent of the town of Greensburg was literately wiped off the face of the earth. Another round of tornadoes occurred the following day across generally the same area. Nearly 250 pivot irrigation sprinklers were damaged or destroyed during the 2 day outbreak. Due to the number of sprinklers involved and the lack of replacements, some farmers would be out of service for over 1 year. | |||||||||||
| 27.0 | 2007-05-05 | 2 | 37°48'N / 99°06'W | 37°49'N / 99°05'W | 3.00 Miles | 75 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Edwards |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: Damage was done to trees and pivot irrigation sprinklers. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Unbelievably, an outbreak of tornadoes, some very large in size, raked the earth in basically the same area as the day before when Greensburg was nearly completely leveled. Although some of the tornadoes were large and apparently very strong, there was no loss of life on this day. A National Weather Service assessment team was in an area about 30 minutes before a tornado moved through. They also saw one tornado during the storm survey of damage that was produced the day before. | |||||||||||
| 27.8 | 1966-08-06 | 2 | 38°24'N / 98°48'W | 0.20 Mile | 200 Yards | 0 | 1 | 25K | 0 | Barton | |
| 28.2 | 1956-10-29 | 3 | 38°22'N / 98°46'W | 0.60 Mile | 147 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Barton | |
| 28.3 | 2008-05-23 | 2 | 37°49'N / 99°00'W | 37°49'N / 99°00'W | 1.00 Mile | 1056 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Pratt |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This large tornado moved out of Edwards county and did EF2 damage to a house, a pivot irrigation sprinkler and to trees. It then moved into Stafford county at 925 PM CDT. EPISODE NARRATIVE: An anonymously strong upper level system allowed everything to come together at the surface to produced what is perhaps the biggest tornado outbreak to ever occur in the Dodge City CWA! Fifty-five tornadoes were documented during that afternoon and evening! Some of the tornadoes were very large and damaging. The character of the supercell thunderstorms that day had similarities to the storms that produced the Greensburg tornado a little over a year after. In fact there was one tornado that was just as large and perhaps could have been just as damaging that was headed towards the small Kiowa county town but fortunately turned and dissipated. | |||||||||||
| 29.4 | 1955-06-04 | 4 | 37°29'N / 100°02'W | 38°11'N / 99°03'W | 72.20 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Ford |
| 29.5 | 1993-05-07 | 2 | 37°48'N / 98°54'W | 38°04'N / 98°41'W | 3.00 Miles | 440 Yards | 0 | 0 | 5K | 0 | Pratt |
| Brief Description: Tornado developed northwest of Byers and moved to the northeast into Stafford County. The tornado was 1/4 of a mile wide as it crossed the county line into Stafford County. | |||||||||||
| 29.8 | 2007-05-05 | 2 | 37°46'N / 99°00'W | 37°49'N / 99°00'W | 4.00 Miles | 600 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Pratt |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This tornado did EF2 damage to farms, trees and pivot irrigation sprinklers. It occurred in very close proximately to a tornado less than 24 hours earlier (less than 1/2 of a mile). It into the county from Edwards county and then moved into Stafford county at 1842 CST. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Unbelievably, an outbreak of tornadoes, some very large in size, raked the earth in basically the same area as the day before when Greensburg was nearly completely leveled. Although some of the tornadoes were large and apparently very strong, there was no loss of life on this day. A National Weather Service assessment team was in an area about 30 minutes before a tornado moved through. They also saw one tornado during the storm survey of damage that was produced the day before. | |||||||||||
| 30.0 | 2008-05-23 | 2 | 37°45'N / 99°02'W | 37°49'N / 99°00'W | 5.00 Miles | 1935 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Edwards |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This large tornado did EF2 damage to trees, pivot irrigation sprinklers, power poles and grain bins. EF1 damage was done to one home and EF2 damage was done to another. The center of the tornado moved to the intersection of Edwards, Pratt and Stafford counties. At that point, because of it's width, it was covering all those counties at once. Technically the tornado moved into Pratt county (see that entry). EPISODE NARRATIVE: An anonymously strong upper level system allowed everything to come together at the surface to produced what is perhaps the biggest tornado outbreak to ever occur in the Dodge City CWA! Fifty-five tornadoes were documented during that afternoon and evening! Some of the tornadoes were very large and damaging. The character of the supercell thunderstorms that day had similarities to the storms that produced the Greensburg tornado a little over a year after. In fact there was one tornado that was just as large and perhaps could have been just as damaging that was headed towards the small Kiowa county town but fortunately turned and dissipated. | |||||||||||
| 30.6 | 1972-04-30 | 3 | 38°27'N / 99°43'W | 38°26'N / 99°40'W | 2.70 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Ness |
| 30.9 | 2007-05-04 | 3 | 37°45'N / 99°00'W | 37°49'N / 98°57'W | 6.00 Miles | 2110 Yards | 1 | 1 | 0K | 0K | Pratt |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This tornado moved across out of southeast Edwards county at 2148 CST and grew into a large tornado of a little more than a mile wide. A male was killed near Hopewell as a basement wall collapsed on him when his home was demolished. Very little of the home was left visible. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A destructive tornado, the first 5 rating on the new Enhanced-Fujita Scale and the first 5 classification since May 3, 1999 when an F5 tornado ripped through Moore, Oklahoma occurred on this day. There were 12 tornadoes during about a 4 hour period, one a little over 2 miles wide! Two of the tornadoes existed for over 1 hour as they churned up the ground, leveling homes and causing fatalities along their path. Miraculously, on 13 people perished, 11 in Greensburg - a miracle because over 90 percent of the town of Greensburg was literately wiped off the face of the earth. Another round of tornadoes occurred the following day across generally the same area. Nearly 250 pivot irrigation sprinklers were damaged or destroyed during the 2 day outbreak. Due to the number of sprinklers involved and the lack of replacements, some farmers would be out of service for over 1 year. | |||||||||||
| 33.6 | 2008-05-23 | 2 | 37°46'N / 99°37'W | 37°48'N / 99°33'W | 4.00 Miles | 850 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Ford |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This tornado produced EF2 damage to trees and pivot irrigation systems. It caused EF1 damage to a house and grain bin. It took down several power poles and power lines. The tornado moved into Edwards county at 22:19 CDT. EPISODE NARRATIVE: An anonymously strong upper level system allowed everything to come together at the surface to produced what is perhaps the biggest tornado outbreak to ever occur in the Dodge City CWA! Fifty-five tornadoes were documented during that afternoon and evening! Some of the tornadoes were very large and damaging. The character of the supercell thunderstorms that day had similarities to the storms that produced the Greensburg tornado a little over a year after. In fact there was one tornado that was just as large and perhaps could have been just as damaging that was headed towards the small Kiowa county town but fortunately turned and dissipated. | |||||||||||
| 34.6 | 2001-04-21 | 4 | 38°30'N / 98°47'W | 38°34'N / 98°46'W | 5.00 Miles | 660 Yards | 1 | 28 | 43.0M | 0 | Barton |
| Brief Description: Initial touchdown occurred 1 mile southwest of Hoisington. The tornado rapidly achieved F3 intensity as it entered the west side of town. Moving northeast around 20 mph, the tornado intensified to F4 within 2-3 minutes. While crossing northwest Hoisington, the tornado inflicted a path about 2 miles long and about 2 blocks wide of almost complete destruction. Damage summary: 182 homes destroyed, 52 homes with major damage, 180 homes with minor to moderate damage, 12 businesses destroyed, tore the roof off the hospital, and severed power to most (if not all) areas on the northwest and north sides of town. As the tornado exited through the north side of town it weakened rapidly, inflicting F1-F2 damage as it approached Deception Creek which runs in a southeast to northwest manner 3 miles northeast of town. Once the tornado crossed the creek, it suddenly turned toward the northwest where it damaged two farmsteads shortly before dissipating. One man, 69 years of age, was killed when a minivan fell on him. There were 28 injuries of which 3 were critical. M69PH | |||||||||||
| 35.1 | 1955-06-04 | 3 | 38°04'N / 98°36'W | 38°10'N / 98°35'W | 6.80 Miles | 400 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Stafford |
| 35.7 | 2007-05-04 | 2 | 37°37'N / 99°15'W | 37°43'N / 99°07'W | 10.00 Miles | 3344 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Kiowa |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This monster tornado formed as the Greensburg tornado was dissipating and quickly grew into a nearly 2 mile wide tornado. Two farms received strong EF3 damage and destroyed several pieces of machinery. A combine was thrown at least 1/4 of a mile and it disintegrated upon impact. Numerous pivot irrigation sprinklers were destroyed, along with trees and power lines. The tornado moved into Edwards county at 2131 CST. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A destructive tornado, the first 5 rating on the new Enhanced-Fujita Scale and the first 5 classification since May 3, 1999 when an F5 tornado ripped through Moore, Oklahoma occurred on this day. There were 12 tornadoes during about a 4 hour period, one a little over 2 miles wide! Two of the tornadoes existed for over 1 hour as they churned up the ground, leveling homes and causing fatalities along their path. Miraculously, on 13 people perished, 11 in Greensburg - a miracle because over 90 percent of the town of Greensburg was literately wiped off the face of the earth. Another round of tornadoes occurred the following day across generally the same area. Nearly 250 pivot irrigation sprinklers were damaged or destroyed during the 2 day outbreak. Due to the number of sprinklers involved and the lack of replacements, some farmers would be out of service for over 1 year. | |||||||||||
| 35.9 | 1972-05-22 | 2 | 38°00'N / 99°54'W | 38°02'N / 99°49'W | 5.10 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Hodgeman |
| 36.7 | 1972-04-30 | 4 | 38°05'N / 100°06'W | 38°16'N / 99°43'W | 24.30 Miles | 77 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Hodgeman |
| 36.7 | 1968-06-13 | 2 | 38°06'N / 99°54'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Hodgeman | |||
| 37.6 | 1964-05-05 | 3 | 37°54'N / 98°48'W | 37°58'N / 98°26'W | 20.40 Miles | 880 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Stafford |
| 37.9 | 1959-05-28 | 2 | 38°37'N / 99°39'W | 38°39'N / 99°37'W | 2.30 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Ness |
| 38.1 | 1964-06-12 | 2 | 38°31'N / 98°46'W | 38°42'N / 98°48'W | 12.60 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 1 | 25K | 0 | Barton |
| 38.1 | 1959-09-17 | 2 | 38°09'N / 99°56'W | 0 | 1 | 3K | 0 | Hodgeman | |||
| 38.3 | 2002-05-07 | 2 | 37°39'N / 99°00'W | 37°42'N / 98°54'W | 7.50 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 0 | 500K | 0 | Pratt |
| Brief Description: This tornado moved in from Kiowa county. No injuries due to adequate warning. | |||||||||||
| 38.4 | 2002-05-07 | 2 | 37°43'N / 99°40'W | 37°43'N / 99°34'W | 1.90 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 150K | 0 | Ford |
| Brief Description: This first tornado of the afternoon came close to striking a farm that was plowing his field. His tractor was running low on fuel and just made it back to shelter as irrigation pipe was flying by. Several pivots were destroyed. | |||||||||||
| 38.7 | 2002-05-07 | 3 | 37°43'N / 99°34'W | 37°40'N / 99°35'W | 4.00 Miles | 900 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ford |
| Brief Description: This tornado became quite large as it moved at first to the southwest and then turned southeast. The tornado completely stripped topsoil from one field and debarked trees at a pond. Several dozen cattle were killed with several 1500 pound heifers carried 3/4 of a mile. Two other tornadoes crossed nearly the same location within an hour, which may have contributed to the scouring of the topsoil. | |||||||||||
| 39.1 | 2002-05-07 | 3 | 37°41'N / 99°29'W | 37°36'N / 99°24'W | 10.00 Miles | 600 Yards | 0 | 1 | 800K | 0 | Kiowa |
| Brief Description: This tornado moved slowly east/northeast at first and then turned south/southeast striking two farms. One person was thrown from the house and into the yard. | |||||||||||
| 39.9 | 1962-05-20 | 2 | 37°26'N / 99°05'W | 37°48'N / 99°05'W | 25.30 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Kiowa |
| 40.1 | 2002-05-07 | 3 | 37°42'N / 99°33'W | 37°37'N / 99°33'W | 8.50 Miles | 1800 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ford |
| Brief Description: This tornado which developed in the same general tornadoes earlier, moved southwest and then finally turned south and southeast. It grew very large and at one time was 1 mile wide. Extreme damage was done to trees and irrigation pipe. | |||||||||||
| 40.5 | 1975-05-27 | 3 | 38°32'N / 98°38'W | 0.50 Mile | 20 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Barton | |
| 40.9 | 1965-05-25 | 3 | 37°42'N / 98°47'W | 37°49'N / 98°38'W | 11.50 Miles | 250 Yards | 0 | 7 | 250K | 0 | Pratt |
| 41.2 | 1956-04-02 | 3 | 38°21'N / 98°34'W | 38°31'N / 98°31'W | 11.70 Miles | 350 Yards | 0 | 1 | 25K | 0 | Barton |
| 41.6 | 1990-04-25 | 3 | 38°37'N / 99°44'W | 38°41'N / 99°42'W | 4.00 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Ness |
| 42.1 | 1960-05-24 | 2 | 38°47'N / 99°06'W | 0.30 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Ellis | |
| 42.2 | 1965-05-25 | 3 | 37°49'N / 98°38'W | 37°58'N / 98°28'W | 13.80 Miles | 250 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Stafford |
| 43.2 | 1972-05-22 | 2 | 38°11'N / 100°05'W | 38°17'N / 99°58'W | 9.40 Miles | 10 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Hodgeman |
| 43.5 | 2007-03-28 | 3 | 38°04'N / 100°04'W | 38°16'N / 100°00'W | 13.00 Miles | 1320 Yards | 0 | 0 | 210K | 0K | Hodgeman |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This large tornado destroyed three homes and did damage to one other. Hundreds of power poles were broken along with a handful of pivot irrigation sprinklers and barns. Trees also sustained major damage. There were also at least 50 head of cattle dead from this tornado in Hodgeman county. Parts of the debris from a shed were found 40 miles north. A wedding book registry was found intact 34 miles from the original location in a home that was destroyed. This tornado continued into Ness county at 925 PM CDT. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Major tornado outbreak and severe weather swept across parts of western Kansas. Fortunately, there were no injuries or fatalities despite major destruction. | |||||||||||
| 43.5 | 1990-04-25 | 3 | 38°41'N / 99°42'W | 38°47'N / 99°33'W | 10.00 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Trego |
| 43.7 | 1974-08-30 | 2 | 38°44'N / 98°55'W | 38°46'N / 98°50'W | 4.70 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Russell |
| 43.8 | 1980-10-16 | 3 | 38°49'N / 99°15'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Ellis | |||
| 43.8 | 1973-09-25 | 3 | 37°37'N / 99°45'W | 37°43'N / 99°39'W | 8.80 Miles | 73 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Ford |
| 44.2 | 1990-05-24 | 3 | 38°27'N / 98°33'W | 38°29'N / 98°27'W | 4.00 Miles | 1320 Yards | 0 | 4 | 250K | 0 | Barton |
| 44.3 | 1964-06-10 | 2 | 38°31'N / 98°32'W | 0.50 Mile | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Barton | |
| 44.5 | 1971-06-09 | 2 | 38°31'N / 100°01'W | 38°27'N / 99°54'W | 7.70 Miles | 117 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Ness |
| 44.7 | 1959-07-10 | 2 | 37°38'N / 99°40'W | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Ford | |||
| 45.0 | 1960-05-04 | 2 | 38°38'N / 99°50'W | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Ness | |||
| 45.2 | 1991-05-16 | 3 | 37°56'N / 100°09'W | 38°05'N / 99°55'W | 22.00 Miles | 880 Yards | 0 | 2 | 250K | 0 | Hodgeman |
| 45.4 | 1951-04-30 | 3 | 37°38'N / 98°45'W | 37°46'N / 98°35'W | 12.80 Miles | 440 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Pratt |
| 45.6 | 1964-04-22 | 3 | 38°16'N / 98°38'W | 38°42'N / 98°20'W | 34.00 Miles | 880 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Barton |
| 46.2 | 1956-04-02 | 3 | 38°31'N / 98°31'W | 38°31'N / 98°28'W | 2.30 Miles | 350 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Barton |
| 46.4 | 2008-05-23 | 3 | 38°36'N / 99°52'W | 38°42'N / 99°50'W | 6.00 Miles | 715 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Ness |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This tornado caused EF3 damage to trees and an old stone home. A farm implement was carried 1/2 mile south of it's original starting point. EF3 damage was also done to trees. Another home sustained EF1 damage. There were numerous power poles taken down and at least 5 head of cattle perished in the tornado. The tornado moved into Trego county at 19:42 CDT. EPISODE NARRATIVE: An anonymously strong upper level system allowed everything to come together at the surface to produced what is perhaps the biggest tornado outbreak to ever occur in the Dodge City CWA! Fifty-five tornadoes were documented during that afternoon and evening! Some of the tornadoes were very large and damaging. The character of the supercell thunderstorms that day had similarities to the storms that produced the Greensburg tornado a little over a year after. In fact there was one tornado that was just as large and perhaps could have been just as damaging that was headed towards the small Kiowa county town but fortunately turned and dissipated. | |||||||||||
| 46.7 | 1964-08-31 | 3 | 38°48'N / 99°19'W | 38°55'N / 99°16'W | 8.30 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Ellis |
| 47.0 | 2007-03-28 | 3 | 38°15'N / 100°02'W | 38°29'N / 100°06'W | 16.00 Miles | 1320 Yards | 0 | 0 | 325K | 0K | Ness |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This tornado originated in Hodgeman county and entered Ness county at 925 PM. This large tornado destroyed or heavily damaged 5 homes in Ness county. Hundreds of power poles were broken along with 7 pivot irrigation sprinklers and lots of damage to trees. There were also at least 20 head of cattle dead from this tornado in Ness county. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Major tornado outbreak and severe weather swept across parts of western Kansas. Fortunately, there were no injuries or fatalities despite major destruction. | |||||||||||
| 47.0 | 1956-04-02 | 3 | 38°32'N / 98°33'W | 38°35'N / 98°28'W | 5.40 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Ellsworth |
| 47.3 | 1955-06-04 | 3 | 38°15'N / 98°25'W | 38°17'N / 98°19'W | 5.90 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Rice |
| 47.5 | 2006-04-01 | 2 | 37°41'N / 98°38'W | 37°44'N / 98°34'W | 4.90 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Pratt |
| Brief Description: A barn was destroyed, a house damaged, large trees uprooted, a bailing trailer thrown into trees and several pivot sprinklers were destroyed. | |||||||||||
| 47.5 | 2007-05-04 | 5 | 37°23'N / 99°22'W | 37°37'N / 99°19'W | 26.00 Miles | 3000 Yards | 11 | 63 | 250.0M | 0K | Kiowa |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This killer tornado started in Comanche county and crossed into Kiowa county at 2003 CST / 2103 CDT. It curved north then northwest before making a complete loop northwest of Greensburg. Thus, the path was 25.8 miles. This tornado destroyed nearly 95 percent of the town of Greensburg and despite adequate warning, unfortunately took the life of 11 people, some that were in basements. First responders arriving on the scene requested three refrigerated refer trucks thinking there would be hundreds of fatalities. It also destroyed a dozen homes and a church south of Greensburg but did not cause injury. In all, 961 homes and businesses were destroyed, 216 received major damage and 307 received minor damage. As the tornado was dissipating it turned northwest, west, south and then back east making a loop. This was documented on both high resolution doppler radar and through the ground survey. Also as the tornado was dissipating a new circulation quickly grew northeast of town. Several oil storage tanks were destroyed causing an environmental concern. In the town of Greensburg, hazardous material was strewn everywhere. As of July 26th, the debris was still not fully cleaned up. Two landfills were filled with debris from the town and this was even as most was burned. Hundreds of thousands of dump truck loads were taken out. It was estimated that approximately 400,000 cubic yards of debris was removed. The major highway running through town was closed for 1 full month. At one time there were over 150 law enforcement officers (from all over the country) present. Military was called in for debris removal and rebuilding. Damage of insured losses exceeded $150 million, but including un-insured losses, was roughly 250 million dollars. **** NOTE **** The 11th victim passed away on September 19th, 2007 after a long battle with a head injury sustained during the tornado. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A destructive tornado, the first 5 rating on the new Enhanced-Fujita Scale and the first 5 classification since May 3, 1999 when an F5 tornado ripped through Moore, Oklahoma occurred on this day. There were 12 tornadoes during about a 4 hour period, one a little over 2 miles wide! Two of the tornadoes existed for over 1 hour as they churned up the ground, leveling homes and causing fatalities along their path. Miraculously, on 13 people perished, 11 in Greensburg - a miracle because over 90 percent of the town of Greensburg was literately wiped off the face of the earth. Another round of tornadoes occurred the following day across generally the same area. Nearly 250 pivot irrigation sprinklers were damaged or destroyed during the 2 day outbreak. Due to the number of sprinklers involved and the lack of replacements, some farmers would be out of service for over 1 year. | |||||||||||
| 47.6 | 1964-06-12 | 2 | 38°42'N / 98°48'W | 38°52'N / 98°48'W | 11.50 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Russell |
| 47.6 | 1964-05-05 | 2 | 38°34'N / 98°36'W | 38°43'N / 98°33'W | 10.60 Miles | 1320 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Barton |
| 48.2 | 1991-03-26 | 3 | 37°48'N / 98°30'W | 37°48'N / 98°29'W | 1.00 Mile | 220 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Pratt |
| 48.4 | 2008-05-23 | 2 | 38°42'N / 99°50'W | 38°43'N / 99°49'W | 3.00 Miles | 715 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Trego |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This tornado moved out of Ness county at 19:42 CDT. EF2 damage was done to trees and fences. Otherwise, this is a sparely populated area (farms and vegetation). EPISODE NARRATIVE: An anonymously strong upper level system allowed everything to come together at the surface to produced what is perhaps the biggest tornado outbreak to ever occur in the Dodge City CWA! Fifty-five tornadoes were documented during that afternoon and evening! Some of the tornadoes were very large and damaging. The character of the supercell thunderstorms that day had similarities to the storms that produced the Greensburg tornado a little over a year after. In fact there was one tornado that was just as large and perhaps could have been just as damaging that was headed towards the small Kiowa county town but fortunately turned and dissipated. | |||||||||||
| 48.7 | 1972-08-02 | 2 | 38°53'N / 99°20'W | 0.20 Mile | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Ellis | |
| 48.7 | 2008-05-23 | 2 | 38°33'N / 100°00'W | 38°33'N / 100°00'W | 1.00 Mile | 75 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Ness |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This was a satellite tornado that moved south on the west side of its large parent tornado. EF2 damage was done to trees (uprooted). EPISODE NARRATIVE: An anonymously strong upper level system allowed everything to come together at the surface to produced what is perhaps the biggest tornado outbreak to ever occur in the Dodge City CWA! Fifty-five tornadoes were documented during that afternoon and evening! Some of the tornadoes were very large and damaging. The character of the supercell thunderstorms that day had similarities to the storms that produced the Greensburg tornado a little over a year after. In fact there was one tornado that was just as large and perhaps could have been just as damaging that was headed towards the small Kiowa county town but fortunately turned and dissipated. | |||||||||||
| 48.7 | 1990-05-24 | 3 | 38°29'N / 98°27'W | 38°32'N / 98°25'W | 6.00 Miles | 1320 Yards | 0 | 2 | 250K | 0 | Rice |
| 48.9 | 1973-09-25 | 3 | 37°08'N / 99°31'W | 37°49'N / 98°54'W | 58.00 Miles | 80 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Comanche |
| 49.2 | 1972-04-30 | 3 | 38°33'N / 100°02'W | 38°37'N / 99°56'W | 6.80 Miles | 440 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Ness |
| 49.2 | 1964-04-19 | 2 | 38°16'N / 100°08'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Hodgeman | |||
| 49.4 | 1974-06-10 | 2 | 37°31'N / 98°54'W | 1.00 Mile | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Pratt | |
| 49.4 | 2008-05-23 | 2 | 38°45'N / 99°41'W | 38°53'N / 99°38'W | 9.00 Miles | 1760 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Trego |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This 1.0 mile wide tornado moved over a sparsely populated area (including vegetation) but did EF2 damage to trees, power poles and a house. A large outbuilding was completely destroyed. Oil tanks ruptured and there were several head of cattle killed. Also a combine was rolled. Since this tornado moved north along a road, there was 2.4 miles of power poles taken down. EPISODE NARRATIVE: An anonymously strong upper level system allowed everything to come together at the surface to produced what is perhaps the biggest tornado outbreak to ever occur in the Dodge City CWA! Fifty-five tornadoes were documented during that afternoon and evening! Some of the tornadoes were very large and damaging. The character of the supercell thunderstorms that day had similarities to the storms that produced the Greensburg tornado a little over a year after. In fact there was one tornado that was just as large and perhaps could have been just as damaging that was headed towards the small Kiowa county town but fortunately turned and dissipated. | |||||||||||
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.