Storms in Kansas in 1981

257 events in 56 episodes

Every storm the National Weather Service filed in Kansas in 1981, with each episode’s narrative and every event in it. Before 1996 the record holds tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind only, without narratives; floods, heat, winter storms and the other kinds begin in 1996.

Kansas in 1981 on the map

Every episode with a place to put it, colored by kind of event.

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 Kansas

The year

Events: 257
Deaths: 1
Injuries: 42
Damage: $32 million
Episodes: 56

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.

By kind of event

Kind of event	Events	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
Hail	117	0	0
Thunderstorm Wind	100	0	0
Tornado	40	1	42	$32 million

Every episode, month by month

March 1981

April 1981

May 1981

June 1981

July 1981

August 1981

September 1981

Every year in Kansas Every state in 1981 Tornadoes in Kansas in 1981 1980 1982

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.