Tornadoes · United States · Kansas

2021 tornadoes in Kansas

37 tornadoes touched down in Kansas in 2021, 39 percent below the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2020 2022 The whole country in 2021

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.

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. 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.

  7. 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 2021

March 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 139:22 PM CSTEF2Gray12.2100$10,000

March 14 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 1412:50 PM CDTUnratedCheyenne0.125

March 15 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 154:30 PM CDTEF0Johnson1.450$100,000
March 154:54 PM CDTUnratedDouglas0.010

May 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 137:10 PM MDTUnratedSherman0.125

May 17 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 176:34 PM CDTEF0Stanton0.450

May 24 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 242:03 PM MDTUnratedWallace0.625
May 243:09 PM CDTUnratedLogan0.925
May 242:42 PM MDTUnratedWallace1.025
May 244:10 PM CDTUnratedThomas1.525
May 244:15 PM CDTUnratedThomas1.050
May 244:44 PM CDTUnratedThomas0.525
May 246:06 PM CDTEF1Sheridan5.9850

May 26 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 262:57 PM CDTUnratedEllis2.5200
May 263:22 PM CDTEF0Ellis0.5100
May 264:54 PM CDTUnratedBarton0.350
May 265:10 PM CDTUnratedBarton0.250
May 265:19 PM CDTUnratedRawlins1.9200
May 265:29 PM CDTEF1Rawlins3.5450
May 265:45 PM CDTUnratedRawlins2.4100
May 266:41 PM CDTUnratedDecatur1.550
May 266:49 PM CDTEF0Rice0.370$25,000

July 17 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 177:27 PM CDTEF0Sumner0.025

August 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 104:43 PM CDTEF0Hodgeman0.250

October 12 11 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 126:25 PM MDTEF0Wallace3.3100
October 129:23 PM CDTEF1Haskell12.9150
October 1210:02 PM CDTEF1Gray1.975
October 1210:12 PM CDTEF1Ford7.175
October 1210:39 PM CDTEF1Ford10.775$110,000
October 1211:22 PM CDTEF1Ford2.075
October 1211:38 PM CDTEF1Ford0.950
October 1211:48 PM CDTUnratedKiowa4.675
October 1211:49 PM CDTEF1Kiowa3.575
October 1211:59 PM CDTEF1Edwards6.3100
October 1212:05 AM CDTEF1Edwards6.6100

October 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 242:03 PM CDTEF0Doniphan4.325

October 26 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 2610:10 PM CDTEF0Reno0.4275

Nearby

Every tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in KansasThe 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.