Hail, Cheyenne
- When
- May 20, 2:00 AM CST
- Where
- Cheyenne County
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Coordinates
- 39.780, -102.000
Tornadoes and Hail in Kansas, May 20, 1959
5 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 3 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 12
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
5 thunderstorm wind, 4 tornado, 3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Seward
- When
- May 20, 2:23 PM CST
- Where
- Seward County
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 37.000, -101.000
Thunderstorm Wind, Ford
- When
- May 20, 3:42 PM CST
- Where
- Ford County
- Measured
- 62 kt (71 mph)
- Coordinates
- 37.700, -100.000
Tornado, Chautauqua
- When
- May 20, 4:00 PM CST
- Where
- Chautauqua County
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Coordinates
- 37.150, -100.270
Hail, Ellis
- When
- May 20, 4:15 PM CST
- Where
- Ellis County
- Measured
- 1.25 in hail
- Coordinates
- 38.880, -99.280
Thunderstorm Wind, Ellis
- When
- May 20, 4:15 PM CST
- Where
- Ellis County
- Coordinates
- 38.880, -99.280
Thunderstorm Wind, Mitchell
- When
- May 20, 5:30 PM CST
- Where
- Mitchell County
- Coordinates
- 39.500, -98.080
Thunderstorm Wind, McPherson
- When
- May 20, 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- McPherson County
- Coordinates
- 38.280, -97.680
Thunderstorm Wind, Sedgwick
- When
- May 20, 7:00 PM CST
- Where
- Sedgwick County
- Measured
- 53 kt (61 mph)
- Coordinates
- 37.700, -97.400
Tornado, Butler
- When
- May 20, 7:51 PM CST
- Where
- Butler County
- Rating
- F0
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Coordinates
- 38.320, -97.120
Tornado, Butler
- When
- May 20, 7:58 PM CST
- Where
- Butler County
- Rating
- F0
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Coordinates
- 38.170, -97.030
Tornado, Smith
- When
- May 20, 8:00 PM CST
- Where
- Smith County
- Rating
- F2
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Coordinates
- 39.600, -99.000
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
- 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.
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: 10027855, 10027856, 10027857, 10027858, 10027859, 10027860, 10027861, 10027862, 10027863, 10027864, 10027865, 10027866.