Osborne County, Kansas severe weather history spans 583 recorded events between 1950 and 2025. The dominant hazard is hail, accounting for 60.4% of all recorded events. It ranks #632 nationally and #70 in Kansas.
583
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
14
Direct injuries
$16.4M
Property damage
The record
What the Osborne County, Kansas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Osborne County, Kansas severe weather history averages 7.8 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 2010s, with 184 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 108 events fall before 1990 and 475 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The costliest is hail, with $5.8M in reported property damage. In total, 7 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Osborne County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 352 | 0 | $5.8M | 3 | 1961–2025 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 138 | 0 | $1.8M | 77 | 1962–2024 |
| Tornado | 48 | 0 | $5.6M | F4 | 1950–2019 |
| Heavy Rain | 24 | 0 | $53K | 0 | 1996–2020 |
| Flash Flood | 13 | 0 | $2.2M | 0 | 1997–2021 |
| Flood | 6 | 0 | $1.0M | 0 | 1996–2016 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2008–2008 |
Decade by decade
Osborne County, Kansas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
46 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 42 touched down inside it and 4 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993-05-07 | EF4 | 1 | 6 | 25.5 mi | Crossed in |
| 1955-06-04 | EF4 | 0 | 0 | 61.9 mi | Touched down here |
| 1968-05-13 | EF3 | 0 | 5 | 140.4 mi | Crossed in |
| 1951-03-02 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 38.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 2019-05-28 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 24.4 mi | Crossed in |
| 2007-05-05 | EF2 | 0 | 11 | 7.5 mi | Touched down here |
| 1954-03-11 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 mi | Touched down here |
| 1950-05-08 | EF2 | 0 | 2 | 19.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2015-06-03 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 mi | Touched down here |
| 2015-06-03 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Osborne County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 2007 | Tornado | OSBORNE | 0 | 11 | $150K |
| May 9, 1950 | Tornado | 0 | 2 | $25K | |
| May 27, 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | PORTIS | 0 | 1 | $100K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
This tornado broke contact with the ground several times but managed to knock down numerous telephone poles between Portis and Delphos as well as inflicting significant damage to several farm outbuildings just north of Delphos.
The tornado moved into Osborne county from Russell county where it had caused significant damage, injuries and 1 death. The tornado dissipated in open country after hitting only one farmstead in Osborne county. (see Russell county for additional information)
This tornado moved west, and began with damage to a silo and large metal building. On the tornado's trek, it tossed grain bin debris about three quarters of a mile. The tornado narrowly missed a new home, but damaged a vacant home on the same property. The tornado lifted in a field west of the farmstead. The movement of this tornado, along with the eastward moving tornado to the south, suggested that the parent mesocyclone associated with the supercell storm was near the ground and that the two tornadoes were rotating within that circulation.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
3,452
Population (ACS)
$86K
Median home value
18
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, AND WILDFIRES | DR |
| Feb 17, 2022 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS AND STRAIGHT LINE WINDS | DR |
| Mar 29, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
| Jun 20, 2019 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, FLOODING,LANDSLIDES,AND MUDSLIDES | DR |
| Apr 26, 2013 | Snowstorm | SNOWSTORM | DR |
Within the county
Most affected places
- Osborne 137
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Osborne County, Kansas?
583 events are on record between 1950 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths and $16.4M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Osborne County?
Hail, with 352 recorded events — 60.4% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Osborne County?
46 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 42 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Osborne County?
18 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Osborne County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Osborne County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Osborne County as very low risk, placing it in the 21 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Osborne County, Kansas severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Osage County 864
- Ottawa County 673
- Norton County 627
- Pawnee County 765
- Ness County 708
- Phillips County 585
Cite this page
“Osborne County, Kansas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/kansas/osborne-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.