Kansas City, MO Tornado History — 153 Tornadoes Since 1950
How many tornadoes has Kansas City, MO had?
Kansas City has had 153 tornadoes on record within 25 miles since 1950, including 15 violent (EF3+) tornadoes.
When was the most recent tornado near Kansas City?
The most recent tornado within 25 miles of Kansas City was an EF0 on June 3, 2025.
When is tornado season in Kansas City?
May is historically the peak month for tornadoes near Kansas City, with 61 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 Kansas City
The last 20 years of confirmed tornadoes within 25 miles — 55 total, averaging 2.8 per year over this window.
Preliminary tornado reports near Kansas City since December 29, 2025
These are 5 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Preliminary reports are revised, merged, and sometimes withdrawn — historically about 23% are consolidated downward once surveys complete.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 Kansas City. 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 Kansas City
50 fatalities have been recorded within 25 miles of Kansas City since 1950, across 5 events. 368 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 Kansas City
About Tornadoes in Kansas City
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.
Kansas City's tornado record has been kept in earnest since mid-century, long enough that the storms preserved in it belong to different generations of the same families. Early in that span, an F4 carved a 26.9-mile track through the area on May 22, 1952, injuring 3 people. The defining entry came on May 21, 1957, when an F5 crossed the metro's southern suburbs, killing 44 people, injuring 207, and staying on the ground for 69.4 miles. Later generations met storms of their own. An F4 struck on May 4, 2003, killing 2 people and injuring 30 along a 21-mile path. On May 28, 2019, an EF4 roughly a mile wide passed through the area's western fringe, injuring 4. As recently as June 3, 2025, an EF1 tornado touched down within the metro.
Geography explains why the record reads this way. Kansas City sits where warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico streams north across the Plains and meets drier air descending off the Rockies, while the spring jet stream supplies the wind shear that lets thunderstorms rotate. Those ingredients come together readily in late spring, which is why the dates above cluster in May. The event list elsewhere on this page draws on the severe-weather database maintained by the NOAA Storm Prediction Center, a record that grandparents, parents, and children here have each lived through.