48
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
13
Direct injuries
$5.6M
Property damage
Tornado in Osborne County, Kansas: 48 recorded events between 1950 and 2019. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #414 nationally and #40 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Osborne County, Kansas: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Osborne County is the 1990s, when 15 of the county's 48 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 Osborne County archive, tornado makes up 8.2% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #414 for this hazard and #40 within Kansas, putting it in the 85.9 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for tornado in Osborne County with 19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993-05-07 | EF4 | 25.5 mi | 880 yd | Crossed in |
| 1955-06-04 | EF4 | 61.9 mi | 500 yd | Touched down here |
| 1968-05-13 | EF3 | 140.4 mi | 320 yd | Crossed in |
| 1951-03-02 | EF3 | 38.1 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 2019-05-28 | EF2 | 24.4 mi | 880 yd | Crossed in |
| 2007-05-05 | EF2 | 7.5 mi | 75 yd | Touched down here |
| 1954-03-11 | EF2 | 0.1 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1950-05-08 | EF2 | 19.6 mi | 440 yd | Touched down here |
| 2015-06-03 | EF1 | 1.0 mi | 125 yd | Touched down here |
| 2015-06-03 | EF1 | 1.2 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 2007 | OSBORNE | EF2 | 0 | 11 | $150K |
| May 9, 1950 | F2 | 0 | 2 | $25K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 2019 | COVERT | EF2 | $75K |
| Dec 25, 2016 | ALTON | EF0 | $5K |
| May 9, 2016 | NATOMA | EF1 | $15K |
| May 9, 2016 | NATOMA | EF2 | $2K |
| Jun 4, 2015 | DOWNS | EF1 | $250K |
| Jun 4, 2015 | OSBORNE MUNI ARPT | EF1 | $200K |
| Aug 28, 2014 | NATOMA | EF0 | $0 |
| May 20, 2011 | NATOMA | EF0 | $25K |
| Jun 8, 2008 | PORTIS | EF0 | $0 |
| Jun 7, 2008 | BLOOMINGTON | EF0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Osborne County
- Hail 352
- Thunderstorm Wind 138
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
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 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.
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.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Osborne County, Kansas?
48 tornado events are recorded in Osborne County between 1950 and 2019, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Osborne County?
The strongest tornado on record in Osborne County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Osborne 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 Osborne County, Kansas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/kansas/osborne-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.