50
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
66
Direct injuries
$53.4M
Property damage
Tornado in Saline County, Kansas: 50 recorded events between 1951 and 2025. The strongest on record measured F3. That places the county #372 nationally and #35 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Saline County, Kansas: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Saline County is the 2010s, when 15 of the county's 50 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 Saline County archive, tornado makes up 6.2% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #372 for this hazard and #35 within Kansas, putting it in the 86.9 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Apr is the peak month for tornado in Saline County with 11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-04-14 | EF4 | 50.3 mi | 400 yd | Crossed in |
| 1973-09-25 | EF3 | 169.7 mi | 100 yd | Crossed in |
| 2018-05-01 | EF3 | 15.8 mi | 880 yd | Touched down here |
| 2016-10-06 | EF3 | 6.5 mi | 140 yd | Touched down here |
| 2008-06-11 | EF3 | 16.5 mi | 225 yd | Touched down here |
| 1969-06-21 | EF3 | 2.0 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 2016-10-06 | EF2 | 0.2 mi | 60 yd | Touched down here |
| 1962-06-24 | EF2 | 0.5 mi | 27 yd | Touched down here |
| 1960-04-13 | EF2 | 1.0 mi | 150 yd | Touched down here |
| 2012-04-14 | EF1 | 15.8 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 22, 1969 | F3 | 0 | 60 | $25.0M | |
| Sep 25, 1973 | F3 | 0 | 6 | $25.0M |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2, 2025 | SMOLAN | EFU | $0 |
| Jun 24, 2022 | GLENDALE | EFU | $0 |
| Jun 24, 2022 | GLENDALE | EFU | $0 |
| May 2, 2018 | GLENDALE | EF1 | $100K |
| Oct 7, 2017 | FALUN | EF0 | $0 |
| Jun 26, 2017 | SALINA | EF0 | $0 |
| May 18, 2017 | (SLN)SALINA MUNI ARP | EF0 | $0 |
| Dec 25, 2016 | NEW CAMBRIA | EF0 | $0 |
| Oct 6, 2016 | GYPSUM | EF3 | $0 |
| Oct 6, 2016 | MENTOR | EF2 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Saline County
- Hail 388
- Thunderstorm Wind 281
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Widespread damage was noted to several homes, businesses, and trees along the tornadoes path. One cabinet making business had a 10000 square foot section of roof removed, with a total of 20000 square feet of damage to the structure as a sprinkler main broke pouring water onto the factory floor. Several homes sustained damage due to garage doors collapsing in the wind and ultimately lifting the roofs off of the homes. One home sustained slightly more damage than the rest, as two exterior walls were also blown out.
The following were destroyed: One earthen home, one house on south side of town, numerous outbuildings, and the town's only water pump station. In addition, one barn, one garage, and one earthern home were damaged. Area newspapers contributed to this report.
A supercell thunderstorm produced a tornado, across northern portions of Saline county, Kansas, 7 miles northwest of Salina, Kansas. When the tornado touched down, it produced damage to a metal barn. Part of the roof had been blown off and some of the side walls had been blown out. The tornado continued to track to the northwest and moved into Ottawa county, Kansas, just to the east of the town of Tescott. The tornado was on the ground for 1.6 miles, in Saline county, and had a path width of 200 yards. A National Weather Service survey team, rated the tornado an EF1, across Saline county. Note: the tornado would go on to produce EF3 damage across Ottawa county.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Saline County, Kansas?
50 tornado events are recorded in Saline County between 1951 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Saline County?
The strongest tornado on record in Saline County measured F3.
Where does the tornado data for Saline 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 Saline County, Kansas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/kansas/saline-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.