Tornadoes · United States · Kansas

1981 tornadoes in Kansas

39 tornadoes touched down in Kansas in 1981, 35 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 42.

1980 1982 The whole country in 1981

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 1981

March 28 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 28	1:15 PM CST	F1	Logan	0.1	10			under $50
March 28	2:15 PM CST	F1	Sheridan	0.1	10			under $50

April 3 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 3	5:05 PM CST	F1	Wabaunsee	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000
April 3	6:00 PM CST	F2	Doniphan	1.8	33			$50,000 to $500,000

April 13 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 13	5:35 PM CST	F0	Shawnee	0.1	10			under $50

May 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 8	4:00 PM CDT	F0	Sedgwick	0.2	17

May 16 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 16	5:10 PM CDT	F1	Grant	9.9	30			$5,000 to $50,000
May 16	5:25 PM CDT	F1	Haskell	32.3	50			$50,000 to $500,000

May 17 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 17	4:05 PM CDT	F2	Cowley	0.5	100	$500,000 to $5 million
May 17	4:15 PM CDT	F1	Harper	7.2	100	$50,000 to $500,000
May 17	4:56 PM CDT	F0	Thomas	0.2	17	$500 to $5,000
May 17	6:42 PM CDT	F1	Cowley	0.2	50	$500 to $5,000

May 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 22	6:15 PM CDT	F0	Lincoln	0.5	17

May 23 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 23	4:15 PM CDT	F0	Leavenworth	2.0	33	$50 to $500
May 23	4:15 PM CDT	F2	Anderson	1.5	50	$500,000 to $5 million
May 23	5:15 PM CDT	F1	Linn	6.5	100	$50,000 to $500,000
May 23	6:25 PM CDT	F0	Montgomery	0.5	50
May 23	6:40 PM CDT	F1	Montgomery	0.5	50	$5,000 to $50,000

May 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 25	4:50 PM CDT	F0	Wabaunsee	0.2	17

June 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 3	12:30 PM CDT	F0	Kiowa	0.5	17

June 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 19	7:30 PM CDT	F3	Douglas	7.7	200	1	33	$5 million to $50 million

June 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 20	6:58 PM CDT	F0	Johnson	0.2	17

June 21 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 21	4:00 AM CDT	F0	Riley	0.5	17

June 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 24	6:45 PM CDT	F0	Marshall	0.5	17

June 28 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 28	6:39 PM CDT	F0	Thomas	0.5	17

June 29 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 29	2:32 PM CDT	F0	Sedgwick	0.2	17
June 29	5:12 PM CDT	F0	Osage	0.5	17
June 29	6:00 PM CDT	F0	Cowley	0.5	17

June 30 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 30	6:13 PM CDT	F0	Harper	0.5	17
June 30	6:30 PM CDT	F0	Harper	0.5	17

July 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 2	10:40 PM CDT	F1	Trego	0.5	17

July 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 3	1:42 PM CDT	F1	Ellsworth	0.5	17

July 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 14	3:10 PM MDT	F1	Sherman	0.5	17

July 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 17	6:45 PM CDT	F1	Seward	0.5	27			$500 to $5,000

July 19 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
July 19	9:45 AM CDT	F2	Shawnee	0.3	150	9	$50,000 to $500,000
July 19	5:11 PM CDT	F1	Trego	0.5	17
July 19	10:00 PM CDT	F1	Trego	0.5	17

July 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 30	3:40 PM CDT	F1	Comanche	1.0	10			$500 to $5,000

September 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 6	3:50 PM CDT	F1	Ellis	0.2	17

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.