Cowley County tornado history

88 tornadoes touched Cowley County, Kansas between 1950 and 2025 — about 1.2 a year. The strongest was rated F5 (May 25, 1955). Tornadoes here killed 83 and injured 321 people.

88tornadoes since 1950

F5strongest rating

83killed · 321 injured

108.3 milongest path · 1956

(E)F0(E)F1(E)F2(E)F3(E)F4(E)F5· dots = start point only

By rating

(E)F055

(E)F118

(E)F25

(E)F33

(E)F43

(E)F51

unrated3

By month

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: May.

By decade

’50’60’70’80’90’00’10’20

Strongest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width	Injured	Killed
May 25, 1955	F5	56.4 mi	1,320 yd	273	80
Apr 2, 1956	F4	108.3 mi	880 yd	29	2
Apr 26, 1991	F4	25 mi	500 yd	0	1
Mar 16, 1965	F4	82.7 mi	300 yd	7	0
Mar 26, 1991	F3	67 mi	500 yd	0	0
Mar 26, 1991	F3	15 mi	200 yd	6	0
Oct 15, 1980	F3	13.3 mi	150 yd	4	0
Mar 13, 1973	F2	51.6 mi	250 yd	1	0
May 10, 1953	F2	38.8 mi	10 yd	0	0
Apr 27, 2024	EF2	1.3 mi	100 yd	0	0
May 14, 2018	EF2	0.8 mi	75 yd	0	0
May 17, 1981	F2	0.5 mi	100 yd	0	0

Most recent tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width
Apr 27, 2024	EF2	1.3 mi	100 yd
Apr 27, 2024	EF1	0.6 mi	20 yd
May 31, 2022	unrated	—	20 yd
May 31, 2022	unrated	—	20 yd
May 31, 2022	unrated	—	20 yd
Jul 30, 2018	EF0	3.7 mi	100 yd
May 14, 2018	EF0	0.3 mi	50 yd
May 14, 2018	EF0	0.1 mi	50 yd
May 14, 2018	EF0	2.1 mi	50 yd
May 14, 2018	EF2	0.8 mi	75 yd
May 14, 2018	EF1	4.2 mi	75 yd
May 14, 2018	EF0	0.3 mi	50 yd

Deadliest: May 25, 1955, F5, 80 killed.

Nearby counties

Chautauqua County, KS23 Kay County, OK100 Elk County, KS29 Sumner County, KS86 Butler County, KS91 Sedgwick County, KS90 Osage County, OK114 Greenwood County, KS50

Questions

How many tornadoes has Cowley County, Kansas had?

88 tornadoes touched Cowley County, Kansas between 1950 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database — about 1.2 per year.

What was the strongest tornado in Cowley County?

The strongest rating recorded was F5 on May 25, 1955, with a 56.4-mile path and 80 deaths.

When is tornado season in Cowley County?

Most of its tornadoes happened in May (30 of 88). Tornadoes can occur in any month, so keep alerts on year-round.

Right now: live tornado warnings map · alerts for your location. Dates link to that day’s full storm reports where available (2004 onward).