Tornadoes · United States · Kansas

2008 tornadoes in Kansas

185 tornadoes touched down in Kansas in 2008, 207 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 5 people and injured 9. 2 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

2007 2009 The whole country in 2008

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 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 2008

March 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 2	5:05 PM CST	EF0	Sumner	0.8	75

April 24 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 24	10:42 PM CDT	EF0	Rooks	0.1	25
April 24	10:50 PM CDT	EF0	Rooks	0.1	10
April 24	12:23 AM CDT	EF2	Mitchell	14.1	1,050	$750,000

April 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 25	1:26 AM CDT	EF0	Cloud	0.1	25

May 1 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 1	6:50 PM CDT	EF0	Elk	0.7	50
May 1	7:35 PM CDT	EF0	Wilson	0.7	50
May 1	7:38 PM CDT	EF0	Wilson	0.6	50
May 1	8:21 PM CDT	EF0	Allen	1.9	75
May 1	9:14 PM CDT	EF0	Neosho	0.7	60
May 1	9:44 PM CDT	EF0	Neosho	0.4	50
May 1	9:51 PM CDT	EF0	Allen	0.6	50
May 1	12:43 AM CDT	EF0	Osage	1.5	30	$100,000

May 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 2	1:04 AM CDT	EF2	Douglas	2.2	100			$260,000

May 8 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 8	1:49 PM CDT	EF0	Wichita	2.0	25
May 8	1:27 PM MDT	EF0	Greeley	5.0	100

May 10 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 10	5:15 PM CDT	EF0	Labette	0.3	50
May 10	5:19 PM CDT	EF0	Labette	1.0	60
May 10	5:19 PM CDT	EF0	Cherokee	2.0	150	$10,000

May 22 17 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 22	3:45 PM CDT	EF0	Gove	0.5	10
May 22	4:07 PM CDT	EF0	Gove	3.0	50
May 22	5:11 PM CDT	EF1	Sheridan	17.6	400	$500,000
May 22	5:25 PM CDT	EF0	Gove	10.7	75	$25,000
May 22	5:32 PM CDT	EF0	Lane	5.4	100
May 22	5:48 PM CDT	EF1	Decatur	12.5	300	$1.0 million
May 22	5:55 PM CDT	EF2	Sheridan	9.4	300	$750,000
May 22	6:08 PM CDT	EF1	Gove	8.0	200	$150,000
May 22	6:18 PM CDT	EF0	Sheridan	2.0	75
May 22	6:20 PM CDT	EF0	Sheridan	0.5	50
May 22	6:26 PM CDT	EF0	Trego	5.0	100
May 22	6:31 PM CDT	EF1	Decatur to NE	34.0	400	$1.9 million
May 22	6:32 PM CDT	EF0	Gove	0.5	25
May 22	8:00 PM CDT	EF1	Ness	3.5	150
May 22	8:05 PM CDT	EF0	Lane	1.4	100
May 22	8:42 PM CDT	EF0	Trego	6.9	150
May 22	8:57 PM CDT	EF1	Trego	3.0	300

May 23 68 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 23	4:02 PM CDT	EF0	Gove	0.5	25
May 23	4:20 PM CDT	EF0	Gove	4.5	400
May 23	4:29 PM CDT	EF0	Finney	1.5	75
May 23	4:34 PM CDT	EF1	Gove	5.0	200			$50,000
May 23	4:35 PM CDT	EF2	Gove	14.0	1,760			$1.8 million
May 23	5:01 PM CDT	EF1	Lane	8.1	1,220
May 23	5:10 PM CDT	EF1	Graham	14.0	400			$15,000
May 23	5:13 PM CDT	EF1	Lane	1.0	150			$65,000
May 23	5:15 PM CDT	EF0	Lane	3.2	75
May 23	5:22 PM CDT	EF0	Lane	1.7	50
May 23	5:24 PM CDT	EF0	Gray	0.7	100
May 23	5:35 PM CDT	EF1	Lane	4.4	150
May 23	5:35 PM CDT	EF0	Gove	5.0	100
May 23	5:45 PM CDT	EF0	Lane	1.3	50
May 23	6:10 PM CDT	EF4	Quinter tornado	11.4	1,320		2	$2.5 million
May 23	6:25 PM CDT	EF0	Hodgeman	5.7	75
May 23	6:37 PM CDT	EF0	Clark	2.1	100
May 23	6:52 PM CDT	EF0	Ness	1.6	60
May 23	6:52 PM CDT	EF0	Sheridan	4.0	750
May 23	6:58 PM CDT	EF0	Ness	3.6	100
May 23	7:01 PM CDT	EF0	Clark	2.5	100
May 23	7:05 PM CDT	EF0	Wichita	0.5	25
May 23	7:07 PM CDT	EF2	Ness	11.8	1,410
May 23	7:15 PM CDT	EF0	Sheridan	6.1	350
May 23	7:25 PM CDT	EF2	Ness	1.1	75
May 23	7:25 PM CDT	EF3	Clark	20.9	3,170
May 23	7:29 PM CDT	EF3	Ness	9.0	715
May 23	7:42 PM CDT	EF1	Clark	7.1	600
May 23	7:43 PM CDT	EF1	Clark	1.1	100
May 23	7:49 PM CDT	EF1	Trego	8.1	900
May 23	7:58 PM CDT	EF2	Trego	9.0	1,760
May 23	8:11 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa	1.2	75
May 23	8:17 PM CDT	EF2	Trego	8.2	250
May 23	8:17 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa	1.2	175
May 23	8:28 PM CDT	EF1	Ellis	2.2	150		1
May 23	8:34 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa	0.5	20
May 23	8:35 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa	1.6	75
May 23	8:40 PM CDT	EF0	Ellis	5.6	150
May 23	8:44 PM CDT	EF1	Trego	5.5	200
May 23	8:56 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa	1.0	50
May 23	9:07 PM CDT	EF1	Trego	6.4	300
May 23	9:08 PM CDT	EF1	Ellis	4.3	450			$60,000
May 23	9:08 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa	6.4	125
May 23	9:16 PM CDT	EF0	Ellis	0.8	50
May 23	9:16 PM CDT	EF3	Edwards	18.2	1,935		1
May 23	9:22 PM CDT	EF0	Barber	4.6	150
May 23	9:26 PM CDT	EF0	Clark	4.5	100
May 23	9:26 PM CDT	EF1	Ford	6.1	150			$145,000
May 23	9:30 PM CDT	EF1	Comanche	6.0	300
May 23	9:41 PM CDT	EF0	Barber	4.0	100
May 23	9:44 PM CDT	EF0	Stafford	5.3	75
May 23	9:45 PM CDT	EF1	Rooks	6.2	100			$100,000
May 23	9:45 PM CDT	EF0	Comanche	4.3	300
May 23	9:52 PM CDT	EF2	Comanche	13.5	1,600
May 23	10:03 PM CDT	EF0	Stafford	8.9	100
May 23	10:08 PM CDT	EF2	Barber	6.9	250
May 23	10:11 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa	3.6	125
May 23	10:12 PM CDT	EF2	Ford	17.2	950
May 23	10:12 PM CDT	EF1	Clark	10.0	150
May 23	10:15 PM CDT	EF1	Barber	12.8	150
May 23	10:17 PM CDT	EF0	Barber	3.3	100
May 23	10:24 PM CDT	EF3	Pratt	21.9	1,430	2	2
May 23	10:30 PM CDT	EF1	Barton	0.4	75			$125,000
May 23	10:38 PM CDT	EF0	Barton	0.8	75			$10,000
May 23	10:41 PM CDT	EF2	Edwards	5.4	125
May 23	11:04 PM CDT	EF0	Pratt	4.0	75
May 23	11:10 PM CDT	EF1	Reno	6.4	125			$65,000
May 23	12:11 AM CDT	EF0	Reno	0.5	50

May 25 12 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 25	2:57 PM CDT	EF1	Lane	3.0	100
May 25	2:58 PM CDT	EF0	Scott	0.5	50
May 25	3:37 PM CDT	EF0	Rush	1.9	150
May 25	4:15 PM CDT	EF0	Rush	0.5	25
May 25	4:23 PM CDT	EF0	Trego	1.2	75
May 25	4:47 PM CDT	EF0	Rush	0.5	50
May 25	4:49 PM CDT	EF0	Rush	1.1	100
May 25	4:50 PM CDT	EF0	Rush	0.5	25
May 25	5:22 PM CDT	EF0	Barton	0.9	75
May 25	5:56 PM CDT	EF0	Barton	6.2	75
May 25	6:55 PM CDT	EF0	Ellsworth	0.5	50
May 25	7:05 PM CDT	EF0	Saline	0.9	50

May 26 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 26	6:04 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa	0.3	25
May 26	6:08 PM CDT	EF1	Stafford	1.0	100	$65,000
May 26	7:05 PM CDT	EF0	Pratt	1.2	25
May 26	7:09 PM CDT	EF1	Pratt	2.2	100

May 29 10 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 29	4:40 PM CDT	EF0	Sheridan	3.7	75
May 29	5:45 PM CDT	EF0	Sheridan	0.5	25
May 29	6:02 PM CDT	EF1	Rooks	1.8	200	$75,000
May 29	6:38 PM CDT	EF1	Rooks	0.4	25	$60,000
May 29	7:05 PM CDT	EF0	Rooks	0.3	10	$5,000
May 29	7:09 PM CDT	EF0	Rooks	0.6	20	$5,000
May 29	8:16 PM CDT	EF1	Osborne	16.0	400	$15,000
May 29	8:40 PM CDT	EF3	Mitchell	18.9	2,000	$5.5 million
May 29	8:58 PM CDT	EF0	Mitchell	9.8	200	$7,000
May 29	9:30 PM CDT	EF3	Jewell to NE	55.2	1,320	$2.8 million

June 5 13 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 5	2:30 PM CDT	EF0	Logan	1.0	25
June 5	2:41 PM CDT	EF0	Logan	1.0	25
June 5	2:59 PM CDT	EF1	Pratt	1.1	100	$65,000
June 5	3:13 PM CDT	EF0	Gove	1.0	25
June 5	3:39 PM CDT	EF0	Trego	1.0	75
June 5	3:40 PM CDT	EF0	Trego	1.7	75
June 5	4:19 PM CDT	EF1	Clay	14.3	100
June 5	4:20 PM CDT	EF0	Clay	4.6	50
June 5	4:33 PM CDT	EF1	Clay	10.1	25
June 5	5:08 PM CDT	EF0	Washington	0.1	25
June 5	5:41 PM CDT	EF0	Marshall	0.1	50
June 5	7:27 PM CDT	EF0	Brown	0.1	25
June 5	10:57 PM CDT	EF0	Linn	1.0	25	$50,000

June 7 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 7	6:55 PM CDT	EF0	Osborne	0.1	50
June 7	8:28 PM CDT	EF0	Osborne	0.1	50
June 7	8:37 PM CDT	EF0	Smith	0.1	50

June 11 13 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 11	6:13 PM CDT	EF0	Barton	0.7	50
June 11	6:45 PM CDT	EF1	Barton	10.0	100			$65,000
June 11	7:11 PM CDT	EF0	Ellsworth	0.7	50
June 11	7:35 PM CDT	EF0	Barton	0.7	50
June 11	7:57 PM CDT	EF0	Barton	0.7	50
June 11	8:15 PM CDT	EF0	Ellsworth	0.8	50			$10,000
June 11	8:48 PM CDT	EF0	Saline	1.6	75
June 11	9:40 PM CDT	EF3	Saline	16.4	225			$2.6 million
June 11	10:12 PM CDT	EF3	Dickinson	15.3	880	1	3	$20 million
June 11	10:45 PM CDT	EF0	Dickinson	0.2	50
June 11	10:48 PM CDT	EF4	Manhattan tornado	8.6	440			$66 million
June 11	11:20 PM CDT	EF0	Pottawatomie	4.6	75
June 11	11:46 PM CDT	EF2	Pottawatomie	17.3	300	2

June 12 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 12	6:05 PM CDT	EF0	Shawnee	0.3	25
June 12	6:33 PM CDT	EF0	Chase	3.5	75	$50,000
June 12	7:00 PM CDT	EF0	Lyon	0.1	25
June 12	7:00 PM CDT	EF0	Chase	8.0	75
June 12	8:05 PM CDT	EF0	Leavenworth	0.2	25
June 12	8:35 PM CDT	EF0	Sedgwick	0.1	40	$750
June 12	11:06 PM CDT	EF1	Cowley	2.1	75	$125,000

June 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 18	8:33 PM CDT	EF1	Meade	1.4	75			$85,000

June 21 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 21	7:55 PM CDT	EF0	Sheridan	0.3	10

June 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 26	6:45 PM MDT	EF0	Hamilton	0.9	50

July 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 6	3:25 PM MDT	EF0	Sherman	0.3	25

July 8 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
July 8	6:26 PM CDT	EF0	Stafford	0.8	50
July 8	6:27 PM CDT	EF0	Barton	0.4	40
July 8	6:29 PM CDT	EF0	Barton	0.3	40
July 8	6:31 PM CDT	EF0	Stafford	0.5	40

July 9 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 9	4:40 PM CDT	EF0	Chase	0.4	40
July 9	4:46 PM CDT	EF0	Chase	0.3	40

September 12 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
September 12	4:33 PM CDT	EF0	Douglas	0.1	20
September 12	4:51 PM CDT	EF1	Douglas	0.6	50
September 12	5:10 PM CDT	EF0	Johnson	0.0	25
September 12	5:13 PM CDT	EF0	Johnson	0.1	25
September 12	5:25 PM CDT	EF0	Johnson	0.1	25	$8,000
September 12	5:29 PM CDT	EF0	Wyandotte	0.2	25
September 12	5:53 PM CDT	EF0	Johnson	0.1	25

October 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 11	9:54 PM MDT	EF0	Sherman	0.3	10

November 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 10	3:23 PM CST	EF0	Stanton	2.9	200

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
May 23	8:58 PM CDT	EF0	Harper, OK to KS	9.1	125			$10,000
May 23	8:59 PM CDT	EF3	Comanche, OK to KS	11.0	980			$20,000

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.