Tornadoes · United States · Kansas

1974 tornadoes in Kansas

31 tornadoes touched down in Kansas in 1974, 49 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 6 people and injured 187. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1973 1975 The whole country in 1974

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 1974

March 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 7	11:30 PM CDT	F2	Morris	108.4	220			$50,000 to $500,000

April 19 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 19	5:45 PM CDT	F1	Republic	13.9	17			$500 to $5,000
April 19	5:50 PM CDT	F1	Cloud	0.1	17			$500 to $5,000

April 20 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 20	1:05 AM CDT	F0	Kingman	41.3	33		under $50
April 20	10:30 AM CDT	F0	Harper	0.3	17		under $50
April 20	4:15 PM CDT	F1	Reno	14.0	100	3	$5,000 to $50,000
April 20	5:30 PM CDT	F2	Anderson	1.0	200		$5,000 to $50,000

May 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 10	7:20 PM CDT	F1	Jewell	9.4	20			$500 to $5,000

May 13 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 13	5:00 PM CDT	F1	Reno	51.7	100		$500,000 to $5 million
May 13	6:00 PM CDT	F2	Reno	49.8	100	2	$500,000 to $5 million
May 13	8:00 PM CDT	F2	Reno	51.7	100	2
May 13	11:00 PM CDT	F0	Sedgwick	40.2	27		$500 to $5,000

May 17 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 17	7:00 PM CDT	F1	Jewell	16.8	440			$50,000 to $500,000
May 17	8:30 PM CDT	F0	Mitchell	3.3	20			$500 to $5,000

May 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 18	6:00 PM CDT	F0	Saline	0.1	10

May 30 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 30	5:30 PM CDT	F2	Chase	25.1	167		1	$500,000 to $5 million
May 30	8:00 PM CDT	F0	Sumner	0.1	10

June 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 4	3:30 PM CDT	F0	Butler	0.1	20

June 5 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 5	6:15 PM CDT	F2	Trego	17.7	70			$50,000 to $500,000

June 8 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 8	4:15 PM CDT	F0	Butler	11.4	200
June 8	4:30 PM CDT	F0	Rice	5.2	100			$500 to $5,000
June 8	6:10 PM CDT	F0	Elk	0.1	100
June 8	7:00 PM CDT	F4	Lyon	37.5	1,760	6	177	$5 million to $50 million
June 8	9:00 PM CDT	F0	Crawford	4.3	200

June 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 10	9:15 PM CDT	F2	Pratt	1.0	50			$5,000 to $50,000

June 21 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 21	6:35 PM CDT	F3	Seward	2.7	30		2	$5,000 to $50,000

August 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 17	5:30 PM CDT	F1	Rush	13.6	50			$5,000 to $50,000

August 23 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 23	11:04 AM CDT	F1	Sedgwick	0.1	20

August 30 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
August 30	6:00 PM CDT	F2	Russell	4.7	67	$5,000 to $50,000
August 30	6:30 PM CDT	F1	Barton	0.1	50	$5,000 to $50,000
August 30	6:50 PM CDT	F2	Pawnee	7.7	200	$5,000 to $50,000

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.