Kansas, 1959

Tornadoes and Hail in Kansas, May 18, 1959

May 18, 1959 · 5 events in 2 counties and zones

3 tornado, 2 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$278,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
5

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

3 tornado, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Brown

When
May 18, 6:50 PM CST
Where
Brown County
Rating
F3
Path length
0.5 mi
Path width
100 yd
Property damage
$25,000
Coordinates
39.820, -95.620

Hail, Brown

When
May 18, 6:50 PM CST
Where
Brown County
Measured
2.25 in hail
Coordinates
39.780, -95.500

Tornado, Brown

When
May 18, 7:00 PM CST
Where
Brown County
Rating
F2
Path length
1 mi
Path width
880 yd
Property damage
$3,000
Coordinates
39.730, -95.420

Tornado, Doniphan

When
May 18, 7:35 PM CST
Where
Doniphan County
Rating
F3
Path length
6.5 mi
Path width
400 yd
Property damage
$250,000
Coordinates
39.730, -95.330

Hail, Doniphan

When
May 18, 7:35 PM CST
Where
Doniphan County
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
39.780, -95.080

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Kansas in 1959Every state in 1959This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Kansas, 1959

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10027850, 10027851, 10027852, 10027853, 10027854.