Tornadoes · United States · Kansas

1973 tornadoes in Kansas

55 tornadoes touched down in Kansas in 1973, 9 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 6 people and injured 61.

1972 1974 The whole country in 1973

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.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 1973

March 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 8	7:50 PM CST	F2	Neosho	23.5	440		1	$50,000 to $500,000

March 13 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
March 13	1:20 PM CST	F2	Comanche	2.3	40	$5,000 to $50,000
March 13	2:12 PM MST	F1	Sherman	0.1	10	$500 to $5,000
March 13	5:00 PM CST	F2	Lyon	10.2	220	$5,000 to $50,000
March 13	5:10 PM CST	F2	Rooks	1.0	50	$50,000 to $500,000
March 13	6:00 PM CST	F2	Smith	17.2	220	$5,000 to $50,000
March 13	6:20 PM CST	F0	Johnson	4.6	33	$5,000 to $50,000

April 13 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 13	5:00 PM CST	F2	Lyon	9.6	333			$500 to $5,000

April 19 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 19	10:31 AM CST	F2	Smith	4.6	100			$500 to $5,000
April 19	11:30 PM CST	F2	Brown	0.2	100			under $50

April 30 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 30	9:45 PM CDT	F2	Rush	0.2	100	$500 to $5,000
April 30	10:30 PM CDT	F0	Atchison	0.1	100	under $50
April 30	11:05 PM CDT	F1	Sumner	8.2	200	$5,000 to $50,000

May 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 1	1:01 AM CDT	F1	Neosho	3.6	400			$5,000 to $50,000

May 6 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 6	5:30 PM CDT	F0	Jackson	0.2	133	$50 to $500
May 6	4:50 PM MDT	F0	Sherman	0.2	133
May 6	6:10 PM MDT	F0	Sherman	0.2	133

May 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 11	6:00 AM CDT	F2	Neosho	0.1	300			$50,000 to $500,000

May 21 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 21	6:10 PM MDT	F0	Sherman	0.1	20

May 26 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 26	3:25 PM CDT	F1	Sedgwick	3.8	100	3
May 26	4:00 PM CDT	F1	Chautauqua	1.0	200			$500 to $5,000
May 26	4:15 PM CDT	F3	Sedgwick	4.3	400		1	$50,000 to $500,000

June 4 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 4	7:00 PM CDT	F2	Greenwood	5.9	300			$50,000 to $500,000
June 4	7:40 PM CDT	F2	Allen	2.0	200			$5,000 to $50,000

June 28 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 28	1:01 AM CDT	F2	Finney	7.2	60			$50,000 to $500,000

August 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 31	7:00 PM CDT	F0	Clark	0.1	10			under $50

September 24 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
September 24	6:02 PM CDT	F1	Chautauqua	5.0	150	$5,000 to $50,000
September 24	6:05 PM CDT	F1	Wilson	20.9	100	$50,000 to $500,000
September 24	8:00 PM CDT	F2	Bourbon	7.2	60	$50,000 to $500,000
September 24	9:04 PM CDT	F1	Crawford	2.0	100	$5,000 to $50,000

September 25 10 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 25	3:30 PM CDT	F2	McPherson	0.1	10			$50,000 to $500,000
September 25	4:05 PM CDT	F3	Rice to NE	169.7	100	3	42	$5 million to $50 million
September 25	5:20 PM CDT	F3	Ottawa	69.9	67		2	$5 million to $50 million
September 25	5:30 PM CDT	F2	Cloud	4.3	67			$50,000 to $500,000
September 25	6:25 PM CDT	F3	Meade	5.7	50			$5,000 to $50,000
September 25	6:30 PM CDT	F3	Ford	8.8	73			$5,000 to $50,000
September 25	7:30 PM CDT	F3	Edwards	18.5	60			$50,000 to $500,000
September 25	7:35 PM CDT	F3	Comanche	58.0	80			$50,000 to $500,000
September 25	9:10 PM CDT	F2	Smith	27.9	80			$5,000 to $50,000
September 25	12:30 AM CDT	F2	Clay	5.9	67			$50,000 to $500,000

September 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 26	3:00 AM CDT	F2	Clay	2.5	33			$50,000 to $500,000

September 27 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 27	4:18 PM CDT	F1	Cherokee	0.5	100			$5,000 to $50,000
September 27	6:00 PM CDT	F2	Bourbon	0.1	10			$50,000 to $500,000

October 11 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 11	2:00 AM CDT	F1	Harper	0.5	100			$5,000 to $50,000
October 11	5:30 PM CDT	F2	Sedgwick	0.7	200		15	$50,000 to $500,000

October 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 18	3:00 AM CDT	F1	Harper	0.4	100			$50,000 to $500,000

October 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 25	3:00 AM CDT	F1	Sedgwick	0.1	100			$5,000 to $50,000

November 19 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
November 19	4:30 PM CST	F1	Meade	0.5	33	$500 to $5,000
November 19	6:15 PM CST	F1	Stafford	17.6	60	$50,000 to $500,000
November 19	6:35 PM CST	F1	Barton	12.3	50	$50,000 to $500,000
November 19	7:00 PM CST	F1	Stafford	0.5	33	$5,000 to $50,000
November 19	8:08 PM CST	F0	Reno	0.1	33	$5,000 to $50,000
November 19	8:45 PM CST	F0	McPherson	0.1	33	$5,000 to $50,000

November 20 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 20	12:55 AM CST	F2	Coffey	1.0	33			$50,000 to $500,000
November 20	10:00 PM CST	F1	Washington	0.3	20			$5,000 to $50,000

Crossed into Kansas

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

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 13	3:08 PM CST	F2	Kay, OK to KS	51.6	250		1	$500,000 to $5 million

Nearby

Every tornado in Kansas since 1950 Warnings in force in Kansas The 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.