61
Recorded events
5
Direct deaths
101
Direct injuries
$8.8M
Property damage
Tornado in Trego County, Kansas: 61 recorded events between 1951 and 2016. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #235 nationally and #19 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Trego County, Kansas: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Trego County is the 2000s, when 33 of the county's 61 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 Trego County archive, tornado makes up 9.5% of all recorded severe weather across 6 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #235 for this hazard and #19 within Kansas, putting it in the 91.9 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for tornado in Trego 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951-06-27 | EF4 | 0.8 mi | 300 yd | Touched down here |
| 2008-05-23 | EF3 | 9.0 mi | 715 yd | Crossed in |
| 2005-06-09 | EF3 | 6.0 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 1998-10-16 | EF3 | 26.0 mi | 1,300 yd | Touched down here |
| 1990-04-25 | EF3 | 37.0 mi | 500 yd | Crossed in |
| 1985-05-10 | EF3 | 10.0 mi | 300 yd | Touched down here |
| 1969-06-24 | EF3 | 47.0 mi | 700 yd | Touched down here |
| 1968-05-13 | EF3 | 140.4 mi | 320 yd | Crossed in |
| 2008-05-23 | EF2 | 9.0 mi | 1,760 yd | Touched down here |
| 2008-05-23 | EF2 | 8.2 mi | 250 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 27, 1951 | F4 | 5 | 100 | $2.5M | |
| May 30, 1959 | F1 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 2016 | TREGO CENTER | EF0 | $0 |
| Nov 17, 2015 | VODA | EF1 | $0 |
| Nov 17, 2015 | OGALLAH | EF0 | $0 |
| May 10, 2015 | COLLYER | EF0 | $0 |
| May 18, 2013 | CEDAR BLUFF RES | EF0 | $0 |
| May 26, 2010 | COLLYER | EF0 | $0 |
| Jun 5, 2008 | VODA | EF0 | $0 |
| Jun 5, 2008 | VODA | EF0 | $0 |
| May 25, 2008 | OGALLAH | EF0 | $0 |
| May 24, 2008 | RIGA | EF1 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Trego County
- Hail 410
- Thunderstorm Wind 134
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The tornado that developed 3.5 miles north and 5.5 miles east of Ogallah (north of Riga) moved slowly northeast reaching a width of 350 yards before crossing into Ellis county at 440 PM. A shed was destroyed near the starting point of the tornado. Along it's path, 1200 pound bales of hay were pushed into a group of trees with a few of the bales stripped to the core. Power poles were downed, tin sheets were wrapped around trees and a stick was impaled into a post.
This 1/2 mile wide tornado passed over mainly open range land. It did EF1 damage to trees, power poles and picked up and carried a horse trailer about 50 feet. It made a hard left had movement (west) and then south at it's end of it's life cycle, dissipating at the Cedar Bluff Reservoir dam.
This 1.0 mile wide tornado moved over a sparsely populated area (including vegetation) but did EF2 damage to trees, power poles and a house. A large outbuilding was completely destroyed. Oil tanks ruptured and there were several head of cattle killed. Also a combine was rolled. Since this tornado moved north along a road, there was 2.4 miles of power poles taken down.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Trego County, Kansas?
61 tornado events are recorded in Trego County between 1951 and 2016, causing 5 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Trego County?
The strongest tornado on record in Trego County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Trego 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 Trego County, Kansas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/kansas/trego-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.