Tornado events in Pawnee County, Kansas The tornado events on record, by date and by year

This page is a county record of past events and claims. It does not show the flood zone or the risk of an address. For the flood map of an address, use FEMA's address search (opens in a new tab).

NCEI has 45 tornado events on record for Pawnee County, Kansas, from 1950 through 30 Jun 2026.

The newest tornado event on record is on 17 May 2019.

From 2016 through 2025, NCEI has 4 tornado events on record for the county.

The NWS collects event reports from a variety of sources, which include (but are not limited to): county, state, and federal emergency management officials, local law enforcement officials, SKYWARN spotters, NWS damage surveys, newspaper clipping services, the insurance industry, and the general public, among others.
The National Weather Service reports property and crop damage estimates using available data at the time of event reporting. These values should therefore be considered broad estimates. Damage amounts are not adjusted for inflation.
The words of the agency. Source: NOAA NCEI, Storm Events Database, page "Frequently Asked Questions", copied on 2 Oct 2026.

Date of the data: NCEI storm events through 30 Jun 2026. Event types on this page: Tornado.

Newest tornado events on record

May 17 2019

TornadoEF unrated

11 miles ENE of RAY

TornadoEF2

5 miles SW of ZOOK

May 16 2017

TornadoEF1

3 miles NW of RAY

Apr 15 2017

TornadoEF0

4 miles NNW of BURDETT

May 11 2014

TornadoEF1

2 miles S of FRIZELL

May 18 2013

TornadoEF1

3 miles ENE of SANFORD

TornadoEF0

5 miles SSE of ASH VALLEY

TornadoEF4

4 miles SE of BURDETT RUCKER ARPT. Damage estimate: $140 thousand

Apr 14 2012

TornadoEF1

7 miles NNE of BURDETT ROZEL ARPT

TornadoEF1

1 mile W of BURDETT. Damage estimate: $35 thousand

May 24 2011

TornadoEF1

4 miles S of ROZEL. Damage estimate: $110 thousand

Jun 20 2009

TornadoEF1

3 miles SSW of ZOOK. Damage estimate: $50 thousand

May 5 2007

TornadoEF0

9 miles ESE of ZOOK

Apr 1 2006

TornadoF0

1 mile W of LARNED

Mar 27 2004

TornadoF0

5 miles SW of GARFIELD

TornadoF1

4 miles SE of ROZEL

TornadoF0

7 miles S of ROZEL

Jun 13 2001

TornadoF0

3 miles NW of BURDETT

TornadoF0

2 miles NW of ROZEL

Apr 21 2001

TornadoF0

2 miles NW of BURDETT

Mar 23 2000

TornadoF0

5 miles SW of ZOOK

Jun 11 1996

TornadoF0

13 miles SE of LARNED

TornadoF0

6 miles S of LARNED

May 22 1995

TornadoF0

At Burdett

May 7 1993

TornadoF0

At Larned. Damage estimate: $500 thousand

A place is the text of the NCEI record: a distance and a direction from a reference place. The site does not show a place text that names a private property or reads as a person. A tornado before February 2007 has a rating on the Fujita scale (F). A later tornado has a rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale (EF).

Tornado events by year

Tornado events on record for Pawnee County by year, 1950 to 2026
Decade	Year that ends in 0	Year that ends in 1	Year that ends in 2	Year that ends in 3	Year that ends in 4	Year that ends in 5	Year that ends in 6	Year that ends in 7	Year that ends in 8	Year that ends in 9	All
1950s	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	2	6
1960s	0	0	2	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	6
1970s	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	1	6
1980s	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
1990s	0	0	0	2	0	1	2	0	0	0	5
2000s	1	3	0	0	3	0	1	1	0	1	10
2010s	0	1	2	3	1	0	0	2	0	2	11
2020s	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 (part of the year)				0

A darker cell has a larger count. The number is in each cell.

Tornado events are on record from 1950. The year 2026 has the events through 30 Jun 2026 only.

By month, all years

Jan0 events
Feb0 events
Mar4 events
Apr6 events
May19 events
Jun10 events
Jul1 event
Aug1 event
Sep2 events
Oct2 events
Nov0 events
Dec0 events

Magnitudes on record

Tornado events on record for Pawnee County by rating
Rating	Wind estimate of the scale	Events
EF0 or F0	65 to 85 mph (EF0)	15
EF1 or F1	86 to 110 mph (EF1)	14
EF2 or F2	111 to 135 mph (EF2)	5
EF3 or F3	136 to 165 mph (EF3)	2
EF4 or F4	166 to 200 mph (EF4)	2
EF5 or F5	more than 200 mph (EF5)	0
Unrated	no rating on record	7

Tornadoes may contain multiple segments. A tornado that crosses a county line or state line is considered a separate segment.

The words of the agency. Source: NOAA NCEI, Storm Events Database, page "Frequently Asked Questions", copied on 2 Oct 2026.

The Enhanced F-scale still is a set of wind estimates (not measurements) based on damage.

The words of the agency. Source: NOAA NWS Storm Prediction Center, Enhanced Fujita Tornado Damage Scale, copied on 2 Oct 2026.

The wind estimates are those of the Enhanced Fujita scale.

Beside the other counties

Tornado events on record: Pawnee County beside the total of the counties of Kansas and of the United States
Measure	Pawnee	All counties of Kansas	All counties of the United States
Tornado events, 1950 to 2026	45	4,965	81,254
Events for each 100 square miles	6.0	6.1	2.3
Events for each 10,000 residents	72.3	16.9	2.4

The columns for the state and the United States total the counties. They count the events of each county in the same way as the county column. A forecast zone with another name than a county counts for the state only.

More tornado events on record

Tornado events on record for Pawnee County, newest first, without the 25 newest events above
Date	Event type	Magnitude	Damage estimate	Injuries	On record for
7 May 1993	Tornado	F1	$500 thousand	0	County
2 May 1988	Tornado	F2	$25 thousand	0	County
18 Oct 1979	Tornado	F2	$25 thousand	0	County
20 Jun 1978	Tornado	F1	$250 thousand	0	County
28 Jul 1977	Tornado	not recorded	$3 thousand	0	County
30 Aug 1974	Tornado	F2	$25 thousand	0	County
30 Apr 1972	Tornado	F3	$250 thousand	0	County
13 Jun 1970	Tornado	F2	$25 thousand	0	County
10 Jun 1967	Tornado	not recorded	none	0	County
30 May 1965	Tornado	not recorded	$25 thousand	0	County
25 May 1965	Tornado	F1	$3 thousand	0	County
25 May 1965	Tornado	F1	$3 thousand	0	County
31 May 1962	Tornado	not recorded	none	0	County
31 May 1962	Tornado	not recorded	none	0	County
20 Sep 1959	Tornado	F1	none	0	County
17 Sep 1959	Tornado	F1	none	0	County
29 Oct 1956	Tornado	F3	$3 thousand	0	County
6 Jun 1956	Tornado	F0	none	0	County
12 Jun 1954	Tornado	not recorded	none	0	County
4 May 1950	Tornado	F4	$250 thousand	1	County

The table has all other events on record. A damage figure is an estimate in the NCEI record.

Official channels

NCEI Storm Events Database (opens in a new tab)Search the full NCEI record by state, county and date.
National Weather Service: Dodge City, KS (opens in a new tab)The forecast office that issues the weather warnings for the county.
FEMA Flood Map Service Center: Search By Address (opens in a new tab)Search an address to see its flood map. This site has no flood-zone data.

These links open the pages of the agencies. The site checked the links on 2 Oct 2026.

Cite this page

County Hazards. "Tornado events on record for Pawnee County, Kansas". https://countyhazards.com/county/ks/pawnee/tornado/. Data: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database through 30 Jun 2026. Page made on 2 Oct 2026.

Questions

Which month has the most tornado events on record for Pawnee County?: May has 19 of the 45 tornado events on record from 1950 through 30 Jun 2026.
How many tornado events are on record for Kansas?: NCEI has 4,965 tornado events on record for Kansas from 1950 through 30 Jun 2026. That count has every forecast zone of the state.
How does Pawnee County compare with the other counties of Kansas?: The counties of Kansas have 6.1 tornado events for each 100 square miles. Pawnee County has 6.0.
Which tornado ratings are on record for Pawnee County?: 29 tornado events have a rating of EF0, F0, EF1 or F1. 9 events have a higher rating. 7 events have no rating.