Olathe, KS Tornado History — 147 Tornadoes Since 1950
How many tornadoes has Olathe, KS had?
Olathe has had 147 tornadoes on record within 25 miles since 1950, including 12 violent (EF3+) tornadoes.
When was the most recent tornado near Olathe?
The most recent tornado within 25 miles of Olathe was an EF0 on June 3, 2025.
When is tornado season in Olathe?
May is historically the peak month for tornadoes near Olathe, with 51 on record. Spring through early summer (April–June) generally sees the highest activity across most of the central and southern United States.
At a Glance
Recent Tornado Activity Near Olathe
The last 20 years of confirmed tornadoes within 25 miles — 43 total, averaging 2.1 per year over this window.
Preliminary tornado reports near Olathe since December 29, 2025
These are 7 preliminary reports, not confirmed tornadoes. They have not yet been through an NWS damage survey, and are not counted in the confirmed totals above.
Preliminary reports are revised, merged, and sometimes withdrawn — historically about 23% are consolidated downward once surveys complete. Ratings are omitted until a survey assigns one.
Confirmed records above are complete through December 29, 2025. NOAA publishes the confirmed archive annually, so tornadoes after that date appear here first and move into the totals above once finalized.
Within 25 miles of Olathe. Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center preliminary storm reports, updated daily.
Tornadoes by Decade
Tornadoes by Enhanced Fujita Rating
F0–F5 ratings (pre-2007) are grouped with their EF equivalents. The Enhanced Fujita scale replaced the original Fujita scale in February 2007.
Tornadoes by Month
Casualties on Record Near Olathe
47 fatalities have been recorded within 25 miles of Olathe since 1950, across 3 events. 329 injuries have been reported across all events. 1957 was the deadliest year on record.
The deadliest single event was a F5 on May 20, 1957, which caused 44 fatalities along a 69.4-mile track.
Notable Tornadoes Near Olathe
About Tornadoes in Olathe
This overview was written August 10, 2026. The tornado counts and notable-event figures elsewhere on this page reflect the latest data and may differ from this summary.
Olathe's tornado story turns on May 21, 1957, when an F5 plowed a 69.4-mile path across eastern Kansas toward the Kansas City suburbs, killing 44 people and injuring 207. The city sits on the low, rolling Osage Cuestas, terrain that gives supercells an unobstructed run: open prairie stretches away to the south and southwest, letting warm, humid Gulf air stream into Johnson County with little in the landscape to disrupt it.
The violent end of the scale has appeared in other decades too. An F4 on May 22, 1952 tracked 26.9 miles and injured 3 people, and another F4 struck on May 4, 2003, killing 2 and injuring 30. On May 28, 2019, an EF4 roughly a mile wide carved a 29.07-mile track just west of the metro, injuring 4 — evidence that the modern era carries the same exposure the mid-century storms revealed.
Activity clusters in late spring, when Gulf of Mexico moisture surges north over the Plains and meets drier continental air along sharpening fronts and the dryline farther west; May and June supply those collisions frequently, and April often joins them. The event list and figures elsewhere on this page draw on the NOAA Storm Prediction Center's database and refresh as new storm surveys arrive.