Tornadoes · United States · Kansas

2002 tornadoes in Kansas

96 tornadoes touched down in Kansas in 2002, 59 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2001 2003 The whole country in 2002

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 2002

April 11 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
April 11	5:19 PM CDT	F0	Reno	2.0	220
April 11	5:35 PM CDT	F0	Kingman	1.0	110
April 11	6:00 PM CDT	F0	Harvey	0.5	110

April 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 18	6:30 PM CDT	F0	McPherson	0.5	55

April 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 27	4:10 PM CDT	F0	Atchison	0.5	25			$30,000

May 5 12 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 5	4:32 PM CDT	F2	Trego	15.0	880
May 5	4:50 PM CDT	F0	Rooks	3.0	30
May 5	5:08 PM CDT	F1	Russell	3.0	250	$170,000
May 5	5:10 PM CDT	F0	Smith	1.5	25
May 5	5:17 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	110
May 5	5:20 PM CDT	F0	Smith	2.5	35
May 5	6:42 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	110
May 5	6:52 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	110
May 5	7:20 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	110
May 5	7:20 PM CDT	F0	Lincoln	1.0	220	$10,000
May 5	7:40 PM CDT	F0	Ellsworth	0.5	110
May 5	11:11 PM CDT	F0	Washington	0.1	100	$70,000

May 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 6	8:17 PM CDT	F0	Marion	2.0	100

May 7 17 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 7	5:53 PM CDT	F2	Ford	1.9	300		$150,000
May 7	5:58 PM CDT	F3	Ford	4.0	900
May 7	6:10 PM CDT	F1	Edwards	2.0	225
May 7	6:40 PM CDT	F1	Ford	1.7	75
May 7	6:47 PM CDT	F3	Ford	8.5	1,800
May 7	6:50 PM CDT	F1	Edwards	5.5	200
May 7	6:51 PM CDT	F3	Kiowa	10.0	600	1	$800,000
May 7	7:00 PM CDT	F0	Ford	4.9	200
May 7	7:20 PM CDT	F0	Ford	2.2	75
May 7	7:25 PM CDT	F2	Kiowa	19.6	900		$500,000
May 7	7:58 PM CDT	F0	Pratt	4.0	50
May 7	8:14 PM CDT	F1	Pratt	7.7	150
May 7	8:34 PM CDT	F2	Pratt	22.0	1,800		$20 million
May 7	9:30 PM CDT	F0	Kingman	0.5	110
May 7	11:38 PM CDT	F0	Kingman	0.2	110
May 7	11:55 PM CDT	F0	Kingman	0.3	110
May 7	12:11 AM CDT	F0	Kingman	0.3	110

May 8 13 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 8	3:07 PM CDT	F0	McPherson	2.0	110
May 8	3:41 PM CDT	F0	Marion	1.0	220
May 8	3:55 PM CDT	F0	Marion	1.0	220
May 8	4:09 PM CDT	F0	Harper	2.0	220
May 8	5:00 PM CDT	F0	Sumner	1.0	110
May 8	5:10 PM CDT	F0	Chase	2.0	220
May 8	6:26 PM CDT	F1	Jefferson	0.2	100	$10,000
May 8	6:30 PM CDT	F1	Jefferson	0.2	100	$50,000
May 8	6:34 PM CDT	F0	Jefferson	0.1	50	$10,000
May 8	6:36 PM CDT	F1	Jefferson	0.2	100	$30,000
May 8	6:43 PM CDT	F0	Leavenworth	0.1	40	$1,000
May 8	6:48 PM CDT	F0	Cowley	5.0	220
May 8	6:48 PM CDT	F1	Leavenworth	0.5	40	$10,000

May 11 16 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 11	4:14 PM CDT	F0	Barton	1.0	110
May 11	4:20 PM CDT	F0	Barton	2.0	220
May 11	4:27 PM CDT	F0	Lincoln	1.0	110
May 11	4:27 PM CDT	F0	Lincoln	0.5	110
May 11	4:34 PM CDT	F0	Ellsworth	1.0	110
May 11	4:44 PM CDT	F0	Edwards	0.3	30
May 11	4:52 PM CDT	F0	Saline	1.0	110
May 11	4:56 PM CDT	F0	Rice	0.5	110
May 11	5:56 PM CDT	F0	Kiowa	0.3	50
May 11	6:12 PM CDT	F0	Stafford	0.3	50
May 11	6:13 PM CDT	F0	Stafford	0.5	50
May 11	6:15 PM CDT	F0	Pratt	0.3	30
May 11	6:25 PM CDT	F0	Reno	0.5	110
May 11	6:25 PM CDT	F0	Reno	0.5	55
May 11	6:30 PM CDT	F0	Pratt	1.2	50
May 11	8:10 PM CDT	F0	Comanche	2.2	100

May 26 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 26	7:53 PM CDT	F0	Barton	1.0	110
May 26	7:55 PM CDT	F0	Barton	0.5	110
May 26	7:59 PM CDT	F0	Russell	1.0	110

June 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 10	6:05 PM CDT	F0	Gray	0.3	30

June 11 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 11	4:25 PM CDT	F0	Lincoln	4.0	110
June 11	4:33 PM CDT	F0	Lincoln	1.0	55
June 11	5:31 PM CDT	F0	Ellsworth	8.0	110

June 12 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 12	5:54 PM CDT	F0	Cowley	1.0	110
June 12	6:35 PM CDT	F0	Harper	3.0	110
June 12	7:00 PM CDT	F0	Butler	4.0	110
June 12	7:07 PM CDT	F0	Sumner	0.5	55

June 15 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 15	4:08 PM CDT	F0	Reno	0.5	55
June 15	4:08 PM CDT	F0	Finney	0.5	30
June 15	4:27 PM CDT	F0	Haskell	1.2	50

June 19 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 19	6:10 PM CDT	F0	Rawlins	0.2	25
June 19	6:15 PM CDT	F1	Decatur	2.0	100	$10,000
June 19	6:22 PM CDT	F0	Rawlins	5.0	100	$10,000
June 19	6:45 PM CDT	F0	Rawlins	0.2	25
June 19	6:45 PM CDT	F1	Rawlins	0.2	25	$10,000
June 19	7:07 PM CDT	F1	Thomas	3.0	100	$3,000
June 19	6:45 PM MDT	F0	Sherman	0.2	25

July 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 10	10:49 PM CDT	F0	Seward	0.3	25

August 11 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
August 11	8:20 PM CDT	F0	Logan	0.1	25
August 11	10:44 PM CDT	F1	Ford	6.5	50
August 11	11:00 PM CDT	F1	Hodgeman	0.2	50

August 12 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
August 12	7:36 PM CDT	F0	Clark	0.1	30
August 12	7:52 PM CDT	F0	Meade	0.3	30
August 12	9:07 PM CDT	F0	Clark	0.2	30

August 26 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 26	4:35 PM CDT	F0	Cheyenne	0.3	25
August 26	9:05 PM CDT	F0	Hodgeman	0.2	30

December 18 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 18	12:55 AM CST	F0	Cherokee	0.5	20
December 18	1:08 AM CST	F0	Cherokee	0.5	20

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.