Last year was a prolific one for tornadoes in Kansas, with the 2019 total nearly double that of the previous year.
Over a 163-day period, a total of 89 tornadoes occurred in Kansas in 2019, while only 45 struck the Sunflower State in 2018, according to the 2020 Kansas Severe Weather Awareness (KSWA) information packet from the National Weather Service (NWS, the state Division of Emergency Management, and the Kansas Emergency Management Association.
No one died in 2019 as a result of the tornadoes, but 16 people were injured, double the number of those injured in 2018, according to the packet.
Following are some additional 2019 tornado statistics as provided in the KSWA packet.
Longest track -- 29.62 miles through Meade, Clark, and Ford counties on May 17. This twister was classified an EF3.
Strongest -- An EF4 tornado in Douglas and Leavenworth counties on May 28.
Most tornadoes in a county -- Six tornadoes were reported in Ford and Meade counties.
Tornado days -- There were 26 days with one or more tornadoes in Kansas.
Most tornadoes in one day -- May 5 and May 28 each saw 13 tornadoes.
Most tornadoes in one month -- May wins this category with 56.
First tornado of the year -- An EFU tornado that was 30 yards wide touched down in Sumner County at 5:38 p.m. on April 17 and traveled 1.11 miles.
Last tornado of the year -- An EF0 tornado that was 50-yard wide touched down in Osage County at 6:56 p.m. and traveled 0.19 of a mile.
While two days in May each had 13 tornadoes, that number is far below the highest total during the modern record-keeping era (1950-present). The top three days are as follows, according to the KSWA packet.
May 23, 2008, 70 tornadoes
April 14, 2012, 43 tornadoes
June 15, 1992, 39 tornadoes