Tornadoes · United States · Kansas

2004 tornadoes in Kansas

124 tornadoes touched down in Kansas in 2004, 106 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

2003 2005 The whole country in 2004

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 2004

March 27 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
March 27	1:09 PM CST	F0	Edwards	1.5	20
March 27	1:13 PM CST	F3	Edwards	10.0	1,300	$480,000
March 27	1:29 PM CST	F1	Pawnee	1.5	80
March 27	1:35 PM CST	F0	Pawnee	0.5	20
March 27	3:14 PM CST	F0	Barton	1.0	55
March 27	5:45 PM CST	F0	Barber	0.5	30

May 12 14 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 12	7:01 PM CDT	F0	Pratt	0.5	20
May 12	7:04 PM CDT	F0	Barber	0.3	40
May 12	7:08 PM CDT	F1	Barber	2.5	120		$10,000
May 12	7:53 PM CDT	F0	Harper	0.3	50
May 12	8:02 PM CDT	F2	Harper	1.8	200		$140,000
May 12	8:14 PM CDT	F1	Harper	4.0	125
May 12	8:32 PM CDT	F0	Harper	1.0	50
May 12	8:40 PM CDT	F4	Harper	1.2	500	1	$280,000
May 12	9:02 PM CDT	F0	Harper	1.2	75
May 12	9:05 PM CDT	F1	Harper	1.5	75		$220,000
May 12	9:10 PM CDT	F2	Harper	2.0	300		$140,000
May 12	9:18 PM CDT	F2	Harper	1.0	100		$100,000
May 12	9:45 PM CDT	F1	Harper	3.5	100		$100,000
May 12	10:05 PM CDT	F1	Sumner	2.5	150		$100,000

May 16 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 16	2:41 PM MDT	F0	Wallace	1.5	75
May 16	5:15 PM CDT	F0	Phillips	2.0	50	$50,000
May 16	5:28 PM CDT	F0	Logan	0.5	50
May 16	6:54 PM CDT	F0	Gove	0.5	50
May 16	7:25 PM CDT	F1	Lane	0.5	100	$10,000
May 16	8:31 PM CDT	F0	Scott	0.2	50

May 22 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 22	8:42 PM CDT	F0	Republic	0.1	50	$10,000
May 22	8:44 PM CDT	F2	Republic	2.0	100	$90,000
May 22	8:56 PM CDT	F0	Republic	0.1	50
May 22	8:59 PM CDT	F0	Republic	0.1	50

May 24 12 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 24	4:15 PM CDT	F0	Republic	0.1	50
May 24	4:18 PM CDT	F0	Republic	0.1	50
May 24	4:24 PM CDT	F0	Republic	0.1	50
May 24	4:57 PM CDT	F0	Republic	0.1	50
May 24	5:08 PM CDT	F0	Republic	0.1	50
May 24	5:12 PM CDT	F0	Republic	0.1	50
May 24	5:25 PM CDT	F0	Republic	0.1	50
May 24	5:29 PM CDT	F0	Washington	0.1	50
May 24	7:25 PM CDT	F1	Shawnee	1.2	75	$100,000
May 24	7:29 PM CDT	F0	Wabaunsee	0.1	50
May 24	7:39 PM CDT	F0	Wabaunsee	0.1	50
May 24	7:48 PM CDT	F0	Osage	0.1	50

May 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 26	9:15 PM CDT	F1	Linn	5.5	400		2	$70,000

May 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 27	1:15 AM CDT	F0	Crawford	0.1	10

May 29 28 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 29	4:43 PM CDT	F0	Mitchell	0.1	50
May 29	5:57 PM CDT	F1	Cloud	4.0	200		$180,000
May 29	6:11 PM CDT	F2	Cloud	5.0	200		$2.1 million
May 29	6:20 PM CDT	F1	Republic	1.0	100
May 29	6:25 PM CDT	F1	Cloud	2.0	100
May 29	6:28 PM CDT	F1	Republic	3.5	200		$3.2 million
May 29	6:45 PM CDT	F0	Republic	0.5	50
May 29	7:17 PM CDT	F0	Harper	0.5	40
May 29	7:20 PM CDT	F0	Republic	1.0	50
May 29	7:20 PM CDT	F0	Republic	1.0	50
May 29	7:25 PM CDT	F1	Harper	6.0	75		$50,000
May 29	7:28 PM CDT	F0	Marshall	1.0	75		$10,000
May 29	7:36 PM CDT	F0	Republic	1.0	75
May 29	7:43 PM CDT	F2	Harper	8.0	500		$180,000
May 29	7:50 PM CDT	F0	Republic	1.0	50
May 29	7:56 PM CDT	F1	Republic	0.5	100		$50,000
May 29	8:00 PM CDT	F0	Harper	0.5	40
May 29	8:09 PM CDT	F0	Republic	0.2	50		$10,000
May 29	8:10 PM CDT	F1	Marshall	1.0	75
May 29	8:19 PM CDT	F1	Harper	2.5	440		$1.2 million
May 29	8:25 PM CDT	F0	Republic	1.0	50
May 29	8:28 PM CDT	F1	Sumner	6.0	500		$250,000
May 29	8:32 PM CDT	F0	Sumner	1.0	60		$30,000
May 29	8:32 PM CDT	F0	Republic	0.5	50
May 29	8:35 PM CDT	F0	Washington	1.0	50
May 29	8:42 PM CDT	F3	Sumner	2.5	600	1	$18 million
May 29	8:52 PM CDT	F3	Sumner	2.5	500		$1.0 million
May 29	8:55 PM CDT	F1	Sumner	3.5	150		$450,000

June 4 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 4	6:26 PM MDT	F0	Greeley	0.2	50
June 4	9:50 PM CDT	F0	Decatur	0.2	50
June 4	10:09 PM CDT	F0	Decatur	0.2	50

June 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 10	7:32 PM CDT	F0	Thomas	0.3	50

June 12 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
June 12	4:40 PM CDT	F0	Cherokee	0.1	25
June 12	7:10 PM CDT	F0	Sumner	1.5	75
June 12	7:25 PM CDT	F3	Sumner	4.0	75	2	$500,000
June 12	8:25 PM CDT	F0	Cowley	3.0	100
June 12	8:55 PM CDT	F0	Cowley	0.5	50
June 12	9:15 PM CDT	F0	Cowley	1.0	50
June 12	9:58 PM CDT	F0	Elk	1.0	50
June 12	10:41 PM CDT	F0	Elk	1.0	75

June 14 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 14	7:27 PM CDT	F0	Rush	0.6	50
June 14	9:32 PM CDT	F0	Rush	0.4	50

June 15 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 15	7:06 PM MDT	F0	Greeley	0.5	50
June 15	7:30 PM MDT	F0	Greeley	0.2	50

June 26 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 26	4:45 PM CDT	F0	Cheyenne	0.3	50
June 26	6:10 PM CDT	F0	Cheyenne	0.2	50

July 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 1	4:34 PM CDT	F0	Lincoln	1.0	75

July 7 23 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 7	3:30 PM CDT	F0	Mitchell	0.5	25
July 7	6:55 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	75
July 7	6:59 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	75
July 7	7:05 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	75
July 7	7:45 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	75
July 7	7:53 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	75
July 7	7:53 PM CDT	F0	Rooks	0.1	25
July 7	7:56 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	75
July 7	8:03 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	75
July 7	8:10 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	75
July 7	8:15 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	75
July 7	8:15 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.7	100	$50,000
July 7	8:23 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	75
July 7	8:30 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.9	100	$70,000
July 7	8:30 PM CDT	F1	Russell	1.5	125	$100,000
July 7	8:34 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	75
July 7	8:37 PM CDT	F0	Russell	0.5	75
July 7	8:37 PM CDT	F0	Ellis	0.3	50
July 7	8:40 PM CDT	F0	Ellis	0.1	50
July 7	8:44 PM CDT	F0	Barton	0.5	75
July 7	9:03 PM CDT	F0	Barton	0.5	75
July 7	9:13 PM CDT	F0	Barton	0.5	75
July 7	9:27 PM CDT	F0	Barton	0.5	75

August 16 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 16	5:37 PM CDT	F0	Stevens	0.4	100			$1,000
August 16	5:49 PM CDT	F0	Stevens	0.1	50

August 21 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 21	7:40 PM MDT	F0	Greeley	0.2	50

August 23 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 23	7:12 PM CDT	F0	Shawnee	0.3	50
August 23	8:39 PM CDT	F0	Douglas	0.2	40

August 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 25	6:34 PM CDT	F0	Osage	0.2	20

August 27 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
August 27	7:09 PM CDT	F0	Cowley	0.5	55
August 27	7:30 PM CDT	F0	Sumner	0.0	55
August 27	7:37 PM CDT	F0	Sumner	0.5	55
August 27	7:55 PM CDT	F2	Sumner	3.0	110	$250,000

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.