Tornadoes · United States · Kansas

1955 tornadoes in Kansas

96 tornadoes touched down in Kansas in 1955, 59 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 2. 2 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1954 1956 The whole country in 1955

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Kansas in 1955

April 12 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 122:00 PM GMT-6F1Hodgeman4.910$500 to $5,000

April 27 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 276:20 PM GMT-5F2McPherson8.7100$5,000 to $50,000
April 276:30 PM GMT-5F2Harvey2.010$5,000 to $50,000
April 276:30 PM GMT-5F0Saline0.310
April 276:50 PM GMT-5F1McPherson11.1200$5,000 to $50,000
April 277:00 PM GMT-5F0Harper0.110
April 278:00 PM GMT-5F1Dickinson0.110

May 6 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 66:00 PM GMT-5F1Barton0.110$500 to $5,000

May 11 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 113:20 PM GMT-5F0Montgomery0.110
May 117:43 PM GMT-5F2Crawford0.110$5,000 to $50,000

May 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 258:40 PM GMT-5F1Ellis0.1101$500 to $5,000

May 26 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 261:27 AM GMT-5F2Osage66.210$50,000 to $500,000
May 262:00 PM GMT-5F0McPherson0.110
May 266:30 PM GMT-5F2Doniphan7.82201$5,000 to $50,000
May 267:30 PM GMT-5F0Bourbon0.110
May 268:00 PM GMT-5F0Cherokee0.110

May 27 19 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 273:30 PM GMT-5F0Phillips8.010
May 277:27 PM GMT-5F0Ford0.110
May 277:30 PM GMT-5F2Anderson27.010
May 278:15 PM GMT-5F0Ford0.110$5,000 to $50,000
May 278:15 PM GMT-5F0Ford0.110
May 279:25 PM GMT-5F1Kingman0.110$5,000 to $50,000
May 279:30 PM GMT-5F1Harper0.110
May 279:40 PM GMT-5F0Pottawatomie0.110
May 2710:15 PM GMT-5F0Butler0.110
May 2710:15 PM GMT-5F0Butler0.110
May 2710:15 PM GMT-5F0Sumner0.110
May 2710:15 PM GMT-5F0Sumner0.110
May 2710:15 PM GMT-5F0Harvey0.110
May 2710:15 PM GMT-5F0Harvey0.110
May 2710:15 PM GMT-5F1Harvey0.110$5,000 to $50,000
May 2710:15 PM GMT-5F0Sedgwick0.110
May 2710:15 PM GMT-5F0Sedgwick0.110
May 2710:15 PM GMT-5F0Cowley0.110
May 2710:15 PM GMT-5F0Cowley0.110

June 1 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 19:10 PM GMT-5F0Reno0.110

June 2 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 210:30 PM GMT-5F1Mitchell19.810$500 to $5,000

June 3 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 31:00 PM GMT-5F0Cloud0.110
June 37:00 PM GMT-5F1Stafford5.270$5,000 to $50,000
June 39:25 PM GMT-5F0Reno0.110

June 4 33 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 41:00 PM GMT-5F1Trego0.110
June 412:20 PM GMT-7F0Wallace0.110
June 43:30 PM GMT-5F0Logan6.910
June 43:30 PM GMT-5F0Logan6.910
June 44:20 PM GMT-5F4Osborne to NE61.9500
June 44:30 PM GMT-5F0Smith0.110
June 46:00 PM GMT-5F4Ford72.2100$50,000 to $500,000
June 46:00 PM GMT-5F1Ford72.210
June 46:00 PM GMT-5F1Ford72.210
June 46:00 PM GMT-5F1Ford72.210
June 46:00 PM GMT-5F1Ford72.210
June 46:00 PM GMT-5F1Ford72.210
June 46:30 PM GMT-5F0Ness0.110
June 47:30 PM GMT-5F0Stafford0.110
June 47:30 PM GMT-5F0Stafford0.110
June 47:30 PM GMT-5F0Stafford0.110
June 47:30 PM GMT-5F0Stafford0.110
June 47:30 PM GMT-5F0Stafford0.110
June 47:30 PM GMT-5F0Stafford0.110
June 47:30 PM GMT-5F0Stafford0.110
June 47:30 PM GMT-5F3Stafford6.8400$5,000 to $50,000
June 47:30 PM GMT-5F1Stafford0.110
June 47:30 PM GMT-5F0Stafford0.110
June 47:30 PM GMT-5F1Stafford0.110
June 48:00 PM GMT-5F1Rice0.110
June 48:00 PM GMT-5F1Rice0.110
June 48:35 PM GMT-5F0Ottawa0.110
June 48:38 PM GMT-5F0Graham0.110
June 48:38 PM GMT-5F0Graham0.110
June 48:40 PM GMT-5F3Rice5.9200$5,000 to $50,000
June 48:45 PM GMT-5F0Clay0.110
June 411:43 PM GMT-5F0Seward0.110
June 411:52 PM GMT-5F0Seward0.110

June 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 52:20 AM GMT-5F0Bourbon0.110

June 12 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 128:00 PM GMT-5F0Wichita0.110
June 126:00 PM GMT-7F0Wallace0.110

June 17 8 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 172:00 PM GMT-5F0Meade0.110$500 to $5,000
June 172:00 PM GMT-5F0Meade0.110$500 to $5,000
June 172:00 PM GMT-5F0Meade0.110$500 to $5,000
June 172:00 PM GMT-5F2Clark0.110
June 172:30 PM GMT-5F2Meade0.110
June 172:30 PM GMT-5F0Meade0.110
June 172:30 PM GMT-5F0Meade0.110
June 172:30 PM GMT-5F1Meade0.110

June 21 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 212:35 PM GMT-5F0McPherson0.110

June 30 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 306:10 PM GMT-5F0Russell0.110
June 307:40 PM GMT-5F1Cloud1.010
June 307:45 PM GMT-5F0Hodgeman0.110
June 308:15 PM GMT-5F0Washington0.110

July 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 137:30 PM GMT-5F2Gray0.310$500 to $5,000

July 18 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 181:37 PM GMT-5F0Pratt0.110
July 181:37 PM GMT-5F0Pratt0.110

July 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 235:30 PM GMT-5F0Neosho0.110

September 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 104:55 PM GMT-5F1Butler0.110

September 21 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 214:50 PM GMT-5F2Coffey0.333$500 to $5,000

September 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 226:45 PM GMT-5F0Barton0.1101

Crossed into Kansas

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Kansas. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 2510:26 PM GMT-5F5Blackwell tornado, OK28.450020280$5 million to $50 million
May 2511:00 PM GMT-5F5Udall tornado, Kansas56.41,32080273$50,000 to $500,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in KansasThe live radar over Kansas

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.