Total Area 82,282 square miles. 15th in geographic size.
Population 2,688,418.
Highest Elevation Mount Sunflower (Wallace County) - 4,039 ft.
Lowest Elevation Verdigris River (Montgomery County) - 679 ft.
All four seasons are experienced in Kansas. Statewide the average annual temperature is 56 degrees. The average rainfall is 26.5 inches statewide; however, precipitation decreases as you travel west.The average in southeast Kansas is 45 inches annually, while the western border averages just 15 inches of rain.
- May 25, 1955 Udall, Kansas.
- May 20, 1957 Williamsburg,Ks.
- June 8, 1966 Topeka, Kansas.
- March 13, 1990 Hesston, Kansas.
- April 26, 1991 Andover, Kansas.
- May 4, 2007 Greensburg, Kansas.
Kansas has three different types of climate classification, humid continental (found in the eastern two-thirds of the state), semiarid steppe (western third), and humid subtropical. Precipitation is heaver in the spring and summer.
This is also the time of year Kansas produces strong thunder storms, especially in the spring. Many of these strong thunderstorms have the potential to produce tornadoes. Most of the tornadoes are reported as F3 in strength or higher. Kansas averages over 60 tornadoes each year. In 2008 Kansas led the nation for tornadoes with 187 twisters touching down.
Yearly Summary for 2010: 94 tornadoes were reported in Kansas during 2010. The record year for Kansas tornadoes was in 2008 when 187 tornadoes were confirmed. Interestingly, three of the past six years have set records for the total number of tornadoes in the state. The 94 tornadoes reported last year exceeded the average of 60.
An active day for Kansas in 2010 was on May 13th. when as many as 13 tornadoes occurred in Central Kansas in and around Sedgwick County.