How Likely Is a Tornado in Seward County, KS?
Seward County's tornado history, by the numbers
Seward County has recorded 39 tornado touches in NOAA's 76-year database, a rate of roughly one every 1.9 years - our Elevated band. Put another way: Seward County sees more tornado activity than 80% of US counties. Within Kansas alone, Seward County ranks 68 of 105 counties for tornado frequency.
Beyond the frequency band: violent history
28 weak and 11 significant tornadoes make up Seward County's 39-track record - none violent. NOAA has never logged an EF4 or EF5 crossing this county.
The dollar figure Seward County's rating leads to
Cost nationally: $2,890-$13,280, about $7,645 typical. Kansas has no state rebate program confirmed here; FEMA's underlying 75% cost-share exists nationwide, but applying through a state program is what usually makes it real, and none was found for Kansas this pass.
What a direct hit isn't required for
The storm that misses Seward County outright can still take its power out - outbreak-scale outages across Kansas are common well beyond the tracked path. A battery-backup unit handles that without a generator's setup or fuel.
What this number is, and is not
One caveat before relying on Seward County's number: it is county-wide, and it covers about 640 square miles, so a single touch counts the same as one in a county a fraction of that size. Weaker pre-1990s tornadoes are also documented as undercounted in NOAA's own record. Seward County has about 21,276 residents.