Tornadoes · United States · Kansas

2011 tornadoes in Kansas

67 tornadoes touched down in Kansas in 2011, 11 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 3 people and injured 7.

2010 2012 The whole country in 2011

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 2011

February 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 27	6:34 PM CST	EF0	Chautauqua	0.9	75

April 14 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 14	4:45 PM CDT	EF0	Saline	1.6	60	$45,000
April 14	5:02 PM CDT	EF0	Cowley	2.2	125
April 14	5:16 PM CDT	EF0	Chautauqua	0.5	60
April 14	5:23 PM CDT	EF0	Saline	0.4	60
April 14	6:11 PM CDT	EF0	Cowley	0.2	50
April 14	6:12 PM CDT	EF0	Clay	0.1	25

May 19 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 19	4:43 PM CDT	EF0	Russell	2.4	60	$5,000
May 19	4:48 PM CDT	EF0	Russell	4.1	60	$5,000
May 19	5:15 PM CDT	EF0	Russell	0.8	50
May 19	5:25 PM CDT	EF0	Lincoln	0.5	50
May 19	8:30 PM CDT	EF0	Osborne	0.1	25	$25,000

May 21 9 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 21	6:16 PM CDT	EF0	Shawnee	1.2	150
May 21	6:35 PM CDT	EF0	Shawnee	2.0	50
May 21	6:57 PM CDT	EF0	Doniphan	0.3	50
May 21	7:20 PM CDT	EF0	Jefferson	1.9	50
May 21	8:50 PM CDT	EF1	Lyon	6.0	150
May 21	9:10 PM CDT	EF3	Lyon	10.1	700	1	5	$2.3 million
May 21	9:20 PM CDT	EF0	Osage	1.4	50
May 21	10:41 PM CDT	EF0	Douglas	0.1	25
May 21	10:43 PM CDT	EF1	Osage	2.9	100

May 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 22	4:10 PM CDT	EF0	Labette	0.3	50

May 24 12 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 24	2:35 PM CDT	EF0	Haskell	0.5	50
May 24	3:34 PM CDT	EF0	Gray	0.4	50
May 24	3:45 PM CDT	EF0	Finney	0.3	50
May 24	4:52 PM CDT	EF2	Stafford	11.8	500	2	1
May 24	5:09 PM CDT	EF1	Barton	5.1	75		1	$250,000
May 24	5:20 PM CDT	EF0	Rush	0.6	75
May 24	5:35 PM CDT	EF0	Rush	6.2	1,200
May 24	6:01 PM CDT	EF1	Pawnee	4.7	200			$110,000
May 24	6:27 PM CDT	EF0	Rush	1.3	150
May 24	7:11 PM CDT	EF0	Barton	0.4	50
May 24	7:22 PM CDT	EF0	Barton	3.4	50
May 24	7:50 PM CDT	EF0	Ellsworth	0.5	50

May 25 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 25	10:45 AM CDT	EF0	Miami	0.1	40	$5,000
May 25	11:10 AM CDT	EF0	Johnson	0.7	60	$10,000
May 25	11:22 AM CDT	EF0	Johnson	0.1	40
May 25	11:38 AM CDT	EF0	Johnson	0.1	40

June 1 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 1	8:20 PM CDT	EF0	Lincoln	1.1	75
June 1	8:48 PM CDT	EF0	Russell	0.4	50
June 1	9:40 PM CDT	EF0	Phillips	0.5	20
June 1	11:33 PM CDT	EF0	Saline	0.4	50

June 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 9	6:56 PM CDT	EF0	Sedgwick	0.4	65

June 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 16	5:52 PM CDT	EF1	Ness	1.0	75			$22,000

June 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 18	7:40 PM CDT	EF0	Gove	0.3	10

June 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 19	8:12 PM CDT	EF0	Morris	0.1	25

June 20 16 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 20	12:55 PM CDT	EF0	Gove	1.1	25
June 20	1:00 PM CDT	EF0	Gove	2.7	25
June 20	1:12 PM CDT	EF0	Graham	4.8	25
June 20	1:54 PM CDT	EF3	Graham	11.9	600	$6.0 million
June 20	1:57 PM CDT	EF1	Graham	0.6	25	$500,000
June 20	2:04 PM CDT	EF1	Graham	0.9	25	$500,000
June 20	2:15 PM CDT	EF0	Norton	1.8	20
June 20	2:25 PM CDT	EF3	Norton	3.9	100	$350,000
June 20	2:26 PM CDT	EF1	Norton	0.3	25	$10,000
June 20	2:30 PM CDT	EF2	Norton	4.0	75	$300,000
June 20	2:35 PM CDT	EF0	Norton	1.6	20
June 20	2:41 PM CDT	EF3	Norton	8.4	100	$10 million
June 20	5:27 PM CDT	EF0	Sheridan	0.5	10
June 20	6:25 PM CDT	EF0	Decatur	0.5	10
June 20	6:44 PM CDT	EF0	Norton	0.5	10
June 20	6:45 PM CDT	EF0	Decatur	0.5	10

July 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 2	7:03 PM CDT	EF0	McPherson	0.6	50

October 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 6	9:17 PM CDT	EF1	Thomas	7.1	50			$200,000

October 7 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 7	9:45 PM CDT	EF1	Scott	5.8	200
October 7	12:08 AM CDT	EF0	Scott	2.4	200

October 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 8	4:50 AM CDT	EF1	Haskell	2.8	75			$8,000

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
February 27	6:21 PM CST	EF0	Cowley, OK to KS	3.5	75

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.