Tornadoes · United States · Kansas

2012 tornadoes in Kansas

94 tornadoes touched down in Kansas in 2012, 56 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 50. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

2011 2013 The whole country in 2012

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 2012

February 28 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 28	5:28 PM CST	EF0	Jewell	2.4	50			$35,000
February 28	5:36 PM CST	EF0	Cloud	1.8	75
February 28	6:05 PM CST	EF0	Republic	6.1	100
February 28	6:43 PM CST	EF0	Reno	1.2	50			$30,000
February 28	6:47 PM CST	EF0	Reno	0.7	50
February 28	7:17 PM CST	EF0	McPherson	2.3	50			$15,000
February 28	9:02 PM CST	EF2	Osage	5.4	150	1	12
February 28	10:06 PM CST	EF1	Douglas	4.8	100

March 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 19	6:55 AM CDT	EF0	Jewell	0.8	40			$50,000

March 28 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
March 28	8:32 PM CDT	EF0	Lyon	0.1	50
March 28	8:37 PM CDT	EF0	Greenwood	0.3	50
March 28	9:17 PM CDT	EF0	Greenwood	0.3	50

April 14 43 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 14	11:38 AM CDT	EF1	Pawnee	4.1	100		$35,000
April 14	12:14 PM CDT	EF1	Rush	17.2	200		$125,000
April 14	1:23 PM CDT	EF0	Russell	0.5	75
April 14	1:34 PM CDT	EF0	Russell	1.8	75
April 14	1:43 PM CDT	EF0	Russell	2.9	75
April 14	1:57 PM CDT	EF1	Ford	33.7	200
April 14	2:03 PM CDT	EF1	Mitchell	4.0	300		$100,000
April 14	2:24 PM CDT	EF1	Clark	6.3	150
April 14	3:24 PM CDT	EF1	Pawnee	4.7	100
April 14	3:28 PM CDT	EF1	Edwards	9.3	100
April 14	3:59 PM CDT	EF1	Comanche	10.9	125
April 14	4:04 PM CDT	EF0	Rush	0.9	75
April 14	4:25 PM CDT	EF1	Stafford	9.8	150
April 14	4:35 PM CDT	EF1	Stafford	14.3	150
April 14	4:44 PM CDT	EF0	Pratt	2.3	100
April 14	4:50 PM CDT	EF0	Barton	0.5	50
April 14	5:02 PM CDT	EF0	Kingman	0.5	50
April 14	5:08 PM CDT	EF0	Pratt	2.3	75
April 14	5:33 PM CDT	EF4	Rice	50.3	400
April 14	6:30 PM CDT	EF0	Kingman	1.3	50
April 14	6:50 PM CDT	EF0	Saline	0.6	50
April 14	6:55 PM CDT	EF0	Kingman	0.2	50
April 14	6:55 PM CDT	EF1	Saline	15.8	100		$10,000
April 14	7:10 PM CDT	EF0	Reno	0.3	50
April 14	7:31 PM CDT	EF0	Dickinson	3.3	25
April 14	8:03 PM CDT	EF0	McPherson	0.6	100
April 14	8:05 PM CDT	EF1	McPherson	7.0	250
April 14	8:27 PM CDT	EF3	Kiowa	48.0	1,720
April 14	8:40 PM CDT	EF1	Kiowa	4.9	75
April 14	8:41 PM CDT	EF1	Marion	16.4	250
April 14	8:42 PM CDT	EF1	Harper	22.3	1,000
April 14	9:10 PM CDT	EF3	Sumner	18.1	400
April 14	9:10 PM CDT	EF3	Stafford	39.7	2,640
April 14	9:23 PM CDT	EF1	Stafford	6.6	150
April 14	9:32 PM CDT	EF1	Sumner	7.4	100
April 14	10:21 PM CDT	EF3	Sedgwick	13.2	1,760	38	$500 million
April 14	10:44 PM CDT	EF0	Saline	10.3	100
April 14	10:49 PM CDT	EF0	Butler	1.5	250
April 14	10:55 PM CDT	EF0	Butler	0.4	50
April 14	10:55 PM CDT	EF1	Butler	4.5	100
April 14	11:10 PM CDT	EF0	Butler	15.1	250
April 14	11:16 PM CDT	EF1	Ellsworth	7.6	100
April 14	12:06 AM CDT	EF0	Lyon	0.1	25

April 27 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
April 27	4:38 PM CDT	EF0	Cloud	2.0	100
April 27	4:43 PM CDT	EF0	Phillips	4.4	40
April 27	5:59 PM CDT	EF0	Morris	0.0	10

April 30 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
April 30	5:38 PM CDT	EF0	Clark	0.4	75
April 30	5:52 PM CDT	EF0	Ford	0.0	25
April 30	5:57 PM CDT	EF0	Edwards	0.3	75
April 30	6:39 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa	0.7	50
April 30	7:12 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa	0.6	75
April 30	7:45 PM CDT	EF2	Comanche	2.6	200

May 6 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 6	6:10 PM CDT	EF0	Johnson	0.1	25
May 6	6:22 PM CDT	EF0	Johnson	0.1	25

May 19 9 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 19	5:38 PM CDT	EF1	Kingman	5.7	50
May 19	5:40 PM CDT	EF0	Kingman	6.7	50
May 19	5:45 PM CDT	EF0	Kingman	5.9	50
May 19	5:49 PM CDT	EF0	Kingman	0.6	50
May 19	5:57 PM CDT	EF0	Kingman	2.0	50
May 19	6:02 PM CDT	EF0	Kingman	1.4	50
May 19	6:12 PM CDT	EF0	Kingman	5.5	50
May 19	6:16 PM CDT	EF3	Harper	9.7	100
May 19	6:33 PM CDT	EF3	Harper	9.7	150

May 25 13 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 25	6:48 PM CDT	EF0	Russell	1.4	50
May 25	8:35 PM CDT	EF0	Russell	0.6	50
May 25	8:44 PM CDT	EF0	Russell	5.8	100
May 25	9:08 PM CDT	EF0	Rush	0.6	50
May 25	9:15 PM CDT	EF0	Rush	2.7	100
May 25	9:22 PM CDT	EF1	Rush	1.9	150
May 25	9:30 PM CDT	EF2	Rush	9.2	950
May 25	9:40 PM CDT	EF2	Russell	0.2	150
May 25	9:40 PM CDT	EF1	Rush	1.9	350
May 25	9:45 PM CDT	EF2	Rush	1.0	150
May 25	9:58 PM CDT	EF2	Rush	5.8	650
May 25	10:11 PM CDT	EF1	Rush	1.3	100
May 25	10:35 PM CDT	EF1	Rush	2.8	200

May 30 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 30	3:00 PM MDT	EF0	Sherman	0.3	10
May 30	7:25 PM CDT	EF0	Hodgeman	0.3	75
May 30	7:35 PM CDT	EF0	Hodgeman	0.2	30

June 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 14	7:18 PM CDT	EF0	Ness	0.5	75

July 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 17	5:50 PM MDT	EF0	Sherman	0.3	10

September 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 17	3:20 PM CDT	EF0	Shawnee	0.0	10

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.