51
Recorded events
17
Direct deaths
4
Direct injuries
$28.8M
Property damage
Tornado in Osage County, Kansas: 51 recorded events between 1951 and 2026. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #364 nationally and #33 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Osage County, Kansas: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Osage County is the 2010s, when 10 of the county's 51 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Osage County archive, tornado makes up 5.9% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #364 for this hazard and #33 within Kansas, putting it in the 87.8 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for tornado in Osage County with 21 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974-06-08 | EF4 | 37.5 mi | 1,760 yd | Crossed in |
| 2011-05-21 | EF3 | 10.1 mi | 700 yd | Crossed in |
| 2003-05-08 | EF3 | 25.0 mi | 800 yd | Touched down here |
| 2012-02-28 | EF2 | 5.4 mi | 150 yd | Crossed in |
| 2019-05-28 | EF2 | 10.7 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 1978-05-23 | EF2 | 4.1 mi | 30 yd | Touched down here |
| 1962-05-28 | EF2 | 0.9 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 1958-11-17 | EF2 | 0.1 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1955-05-26 | EF2 | 66.2 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1954-03-18 | EF2 | 0.1 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 18, 1978 | F1 | 16 | 3 | $250K | |
| Nov 1, 1984 | F1 | 1 | 0 | $250K | |
| May 24, 1978 | F2 | 0 | 1 | $250K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 17, 2026 | OLIVET | EF1 | $0 |
| Apr 13, 2026 | LOMAX | EFU | $0 |
| Jun 29, 2024 | OLIVET | EF0 | $0 |
| Jun 29, 2024 | BARCLAY | EF0 | $0 |
| May 20, 2024 | BURLINGAME | EF0 | $0 |
| Sep 28, 2019 | OVERBROOK | EF0 | $0 |
| May 28, 2019 | OVERBROOK | EF0 | $0 |
| May 28, 2019 | OSAGE CITY | EFU | $0 |
| May 3, 2018 | OLIVET | EF0 | $0 |
| Feb 29, 2012 | BURLINGAME | EF2 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Osage County
- Hail 459
- Thunderstorm Wind 277
- Flash Flood 44
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A second tornado touched down in Osage county about 13 miles southwest of Lyndon and moved northeast for 25 miles before dissipating 6 miles south of Overbrook. The tornado was a half mile wide in places and did considerable damage to farm buildings, machinery, and fences along its path.
The roof of a residence was lifted and dropped back onto the frame of the house. A large antenna that was cemented into the ground was blown over, which tore the cement block from the ground. Windows were blown out on the southern and northern sides of the house. Debris from the residence was carried approximately 100 yards away. A large, three car garage was partially destroyed just before the tornado lifted. A piece of the roof of the garage fell onto and damaged the motor home inside. Debris from the garage was carried nearly 100 yards and across a street to the Vassar Cemetary. There, one headstone was toppled.
A small rain-wrapped tornado damaged or destroyed mainly outbuildings, barns, trees and a few roofs as it moved northeast from southwest of Carbondale, across Main and Second streets before dissipating a little west of US Highway 75. Most of the damage occurred southwest of town and in about a 2 block section around Main and Second streets near the downtown area.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Osage County, Kansas?
51 tornado events are recorded in Osage County between 1951 and 2026, causing 17 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Osage County?
The strongest tornado on record in Osage County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Osage County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in Osage County, Kansas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/kansas/osage-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.