Power Outage in Beloit, KS

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City of Beloit, KS
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Beloit Power Outages Caused by Weather

Events

May 26, 2021 - Thunderstorm Wind

A wind gust of 66 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located 6 miles west-southwest of Beloit. A wind gust of 60 MPH was measured by a mesonet station located 7 miles east of Tipton. These wind gusts occurred on the northern edge of stratiform rain from a thunderstorm complex crossing through Lincoln County, causing power pole and tree damage in and around Beloit.

Tipton - Beloit
June 9, 2018 - Thunderstorm Wind

Very isolated and focused wind damage occurred. A roof was peeled off a business on the south side of Beloit, and there were also a few power lines downed. There were no other reports of wind damage in the area, and the nearby airport recorded a peak wind gust of only 44 MPH.

Beloit - Beloit
July 15, 2015 - Thunderstorm Wind

There were reports of estimated wind gusts of 60 to 70 MPH, while a gust of 70 MPH measured by a mesonet site west-southwest of Beloit and a gust of 78 MPH measured by the Beloit Airport AWOS. Damage was reported in the Beloit area, including in town where a metal roof was blown off an auto dealer on the north side of town. Numerous trees suffered damage, with a few larger limbs falling on vehicles. A number of power poles were also downed, causing power outages in the Beloit and Glen Elder areas.

Beloit - Beloit Arpt
July 15, 2015 - Thunderstorm Wind

There were reports of estimated wind gusts of 60 to 70 MPH, while a gust of 70 MPH measured by a mesonet site west-southwest of Beloit and a gust of 78 MPH measured by the Beloit Airport AWOS. Damage was reported in the Beloit area, including in town where a metal roof was blown off an auto dealer on the north side of town. Numerous trees suffered damage, with a few larger limbs falling on vehicles. A number of power poles were also downed, causing power outages in the Beloit and Glen Elder areas.

Beloit - Beloit Arpt
May 19, 2013 - Thunderstorm Wind

Wind gusts out ahead of and with this thunderstorm produced wind gusts in excess of 60 mph, including a measured gusts of 63 and 67 mph by the Beloit Airport AWOS. These wind gusts resulted in damage to a garage in Beloit and knocked down a couple power poles west-northwest of town.

Beloit - Beloit Arpt

Episodes

December 21, 2022

Based solely on wind chill values, this six-county North Central Kansas area endured one of its overall most significant, but brief cold blasts of the last 30+ years during these days shortly before Christmas, with the harshest wind chills focused between the evening of the 21st and the morning of the 23rd. Based on observations from the AWOS at Smith Center Municipal Airport, which reasonably represented conditions across the area as a whole, most of North Central Kansas endured roughly 14 hours of extreme/rare wind chills around -30 degrees (F) or colder (Warning criteria) and around 40 straight hours of wind chills around -20 or colder (Advisory criteria). The absolute worst wind chills occurred on the morning of the 22nd, during which time nearly the entire area saw values plummet into the -35 to -40 range, including semi-official extremes as low as -40 at Smith Center Airport (AWOS), -39 near Jewell (KSU mesonet) and -38 near Phillipsburg (KSU mesonet). Although some places faced very similar wind chills less than two years prior (during the significant, more prolonged cold blast of mid-February 2021), at least parts of the area likely hadn't experienced wind chills this brutal in over 30 years...since the winter of 1989-90! Digging a bit deeper into the comparison between the sheer magnitude of the cold/wind chills between this Dec. 2022 Extreme Cold event and the aforementioned Feb. 2021 event, this one was certainly driven more by strong winds and less-so by extreme ambient air temperatures. In fact, actual low temperatures across most of North Central Kansas on the morning of the 22nd only bottomed out in the -10 to -15 range. As a result, the extreme wind chill values were significantly driven by relentless north-northwest winds. During the entire 14-hour period that the Smith Center AWOS observed wind chills of -30 or colder (centered between the late evening of the 21st and the afternoon of the 22nd), sustained speeds averaged 20-30 MPH, accompanied by frequent gusts at least 30-35 MPH. Although most of the area saw wind chills climb to slightly warmer than -20 by mid-day on the 23rd (due to the combination of slowly-rising temperatures and decreasing winds), at least sporadic wind chills as cold as -10 to -15 persisted from the night of the 23rd into the morning of the 24th, after which time the final Wind Chill Advisory was allowed to expire. Interestingly, this brief-but-intense cold blast was actually followed by a steady warm-up into and beyond Christmas itself. Again referencing Smith Center data (generally representative of North Central Kansas as a whole), the daily high temperatures bottomed out at -4 degrees on the 22nd, but then steadily recovered to 12 degrees on the 23rd, 26 on the 24th and 35 on the 25th. In fact, less than a week after the brutal cold of the 22nd, North Central Kansas highs soared into the 50s (and even isolated low 60s) on the 28th.||Although the bitterly-cold wind chills were certainly the main weather story in North Central Kansas between the 21st-24th, the early part of this time frame also featured one of the area's first semi-impactful winter precipitation events of the season. To kick things off, much of the daylight hours on the 21st brought a light mix of snow/freezing drizzle. However, the main event transpired during the overnight hours, as a west-southwest to east-northeast oriented band of moderate to briefly-heavy snow gradually marched across the area, developing slightly behind the leading edge of a powerful Arctic cold front. This snow band mainly impacted the area between 11 PM and 5 AM before departing off to the south-southeast. Although the heaviest snow only lasted around two hours at any given location, this was long enough to drop a widespread 1-2 (isolated slightly higher), with visibility commonly reduced to at least one-half mile at times thanks to strong north winds sustained 25-30 MPH/gusting up to around 45 MPH. Though falling snow exited North Central Kansas before daybreak on the 22nd, the combination of residual blowing snow and the aforementioned extreme cold/wind chills made for a most unpleasant weather situation for the morning commute. Briefly touching on the meteorological background behind this Extreme Cold event, the aforementioned sharp Arctic front blasted through the area from north-to-south during the evening of the 21st. During the day on the 22nd, the still strong (but slowly decreasing) winds were driven by a stout pressure gradient directed between a roughly 1011 millibar low centered over northeast AR/southeast MO (along the cold front) and a stout 1055 millibar high centered over MT.

April 7, 2022

This Thursday marked the second straight day of intense north-northwest winds across North Central Kansas, with most of the daylight hours featuring relentless sustained speeds commonly 30-40 MPH and frequent gusts 45-55 MPH (with sporadic, marginally-severe higher gusts). Per various mesonet stations, peak gusts featured: 60 MPH in Jewell, 58 MPH a few miles west-northwest of Jewell (KSU sensor) and 56 MPH at Smith Center airport. Like the preceding day, there were no known reports of notable wind damage, but the combination of relentless wind and worsening drought conditions promoted fairly widespread areas of blowing dust, reducing visibility to one mile or less in various spots. Sustained speeds finally eased down below 30 MPH (and gusts below 45 MPH) on a consistent basis by around 9 p.m. CDT on the 7th, signaling the end of back-to-back days of higher-end winds (though moderately-windy conditions continued for several more days).||In the mid-upper levels, the main driver behind the fierce winds continued to be a quasi-stationary and powerful/deep closed low churning over the Wisconsin area. At the surface, a nearly co-located intense low pressure center resided over WI during the day, although its central pressure slowly weakened from around 994 millibars (mb) to around 1000 mb. Despite the gradual weakening of this primary surface low, if anything, conditions within the state of Kansas were even more favorable for high winds than the previous day. For one thing, the mid-day (18Z) west-to-east pressure gradient across the state was slightly stronger, registering around 13 mb (ranging from 1012 mb in far northeast KS to 1025 mb far southwest). Furthermore, steep low-level lapse rates allowed efficient downward momentum transfer from aloft during the daylight hours, with wind speeds in the 850-700 millibar layer averaging 45-55 knots (roughly 5 KT higher than on the 6th). From a broader perspective, the high winds of April 6-7 were only two of several markedly windy days during April 2022 across North Central Kansas, as this likely ended up being the overall-windiest April since at least 1996 in the area (per analysis of data from nearby Concordia/Hill City airports).

December 15, 2021

A historic onslaught of swiftly-moving severe thunderstorms followed by several hours of intense/damaging non-convective winds that stirred up clouds of blowing dust and sparked a few large wildfires unfolded within this six-county North Central Kansas area on this Wednesday afternoon-evening. The combination of blowing dust and wildfire smoke created near-apocalyptic scenes within parts of the area during the afternoon, firmly cementing this event in the history books. Above all else, the wildfires were the biggest story of the day locally, as three fairly large fires (and a few smaller ones) impacted primarily southern portions of Rooks/Osborne counties, cumulatively burning approximately 19,300 acres/30 square miles and sadly contributing to one fatality. The largest fire in southwestern Osborne County actually represented the northern fringes of the so-called Four Counties Fire that primarily impacted portions of Ellis/Russell counties just outside the local area (this fire as a whole consumed over 121,000 acres/190 square miles). Turning to the convection that preceded the big blazes, although North Central KS did not endure the blitz of quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) tornadoes that states to the north-northeast did, the local area nonetheless served as the initiation zone of what was ultimately classified a serial derecho given that a nearly continuous swath of damaging winds extended hundreds of miles northeastward into southeast MN/western WI...the first December derecho on record in the United States. Within this six-county area, peak thunderstorm wind gusts registered up to 80 MPH and the more impactful and longer lasting non-thunderstorm gusts were commonly 65-80 MPH, with unofficial mesonets clocking incredible 95+ MPH gusts in a few spots. Fortunately, there were no reported injuries from the fierce winds, despite countless instances of damage primarily to trees, outbuildings and power lines/poles. Aside from the wildfires, the primary (and more widespread) issue caused by the relentless non-convective winds was a transient wall of dense blowing dust (mainly emanating from the eastern CO/western KS area), with ground-truth reports from observers near Damar and also Phillipsburg confirming visibility down to one-quarter mile or less for up to a few hours. ||Breaking down event evolution/timing for the local area, first of all, even before convection flared up it was already an unusual/noteworthy December weather day given unseasonable warmth/humidity being pumped into the area on strong south winds. By late morning-early afternoon, southerly gusts were commonly 45-55 MPH as temperatures soared to near-record/record levels in the low-70s F, accompanied by dewpoints surging at least briefly into the 50s F. Early in the afternoon a few local mesonet stations even recorded marginally-severe gusts around 60 MPH from the pre-convective southerlies. This set the stage for a quick round of severe wind-producing convection, as a small line of showers and initially-weak thunderstorms that first got going in northwest KS rapidly intensified and expanded in north-south extent as it entered the local area into Phillips/Rooks counties between 12:30-1 p.m. Over the next couple hours, this severe squall line raced across the remainder of the six-county area at roughly 60 MPH, already clearing eastern Jewell/Mitchell counties by 2:30 p.m. Along the way, area mesonets clocked several gusts into the 60-75 MPH range, with isolated 80 MPH gusts noted in southern Phillips and southeastern Rooks counties. Specific damage reports were limited but included: tree damage in Mankato and Downs; a large tree blown down and roof damage to outbuilding in far southeastern Osborne County. There were no local reports of severe-criteria hail. ||Unfortunately, even with the convective line departing stage-right from the area, the worst weather of the day was yet to come as incredibly-strong (and generally westerly) non-convective winds surged across North Central KS behind a composite dryline/cold front, peaking in intensity primarily 2-7 p.m. During this time sustained speeds commonly averaged 35-50 MPH with frequent gusts of 65-80 MPH, with unofficial peak mesonet gusts highlighted by an incredible 97 MPH in far northern Smith County and 95 MPH in southeastern Rooks County. Although these remarkable winds undoubtedly caused considerable minor damage and/or exacerbated damage already done by earlier convection, specific reports were actually quite limited beyond the aforementioned significantly-reduced visibility from blowing dust. No matter, the majority of attention quickly turned to the overall-most-significant events of the day in North Central KS...the rapidly spreading wildfires in Rooks/Osborne counties. Although fire ignition was largely attributed to downed power lines, and rapid fire spread was clearly driven by the phenomenal winds, area vegetation was also riper-than-usual for extreme fire growth thanks to a multiple-week stretch of very dry conditions. In fact, between Nov 1-Dec 15, the majority of the six-county area measured less than 0.15 of precipitation, making grasses/pastures very fire prone. Although more details regarding these Osborne/Rooks County wildfires can be found in their respective event narratives, several aspects of this event...including that they burned roughly 19,300 acres (cumulatively) within the two counties, killed hundreds of cattle, destroyed two homes and contributed to the death of an elderly man who inadvertently drove into the path of one of the fires...clearly cemented this as one of the worst wildfire events in North Central KS history. Although parts of the area continued to burn well into the night while blazes were gradually contained, thankfully west-northwest winds underwent a steady decrease through the evening, with severe-criteria gusts abating by around 7 p.m. and easing down to under 30 MPH by 9-10 p.m. ||Examining the meteorology behind this event, this would have been considered a powerhouse setup for severe convection/high winds during the more typical spring season usually associated with this type of system, let alone in mid-December. In the mid-upper levels, not only was the parent, negatively-tilted shortwave trough notably intense as it slammed across the central United States, but it was also notably fast. At daybreak, its vorticity maximum was just passing by the Four Corners, but by mid-day it had already reached the NE/CO/KS border area and by sunset had advanced into far northeast NE. At the 500-millibar level, a stout jet streak of 100+ knots lifted directly over North Central KS from the south-southwest during the afternoon, while lower in the column a very potent southerly low level jet (evident at 850 millibars) ramped up to 40-60 knots before turning more westerly and intensifying to 60-80 knots. At the surface, a vigorous low pressure center tracked slightly north of the area across NE during the afternoon, deepening to around 984 millibars along the way and driving a sharp dryline/cold frontal combo eastward through the region. As mentioned, surface dewpoints climbed into the 50s F across much of the area prior to convective initiation, fostering a corridor of mixed-layer CAPE up to around 500 J/kg. Although only modest instability by warmer-season standards, in this case it was more than enough to promote severe convection in the presence of extreme wind fields. In the wake of the squall line, the ensuing and more notable non-convective wind event corresponded to a zone of deep subsidence (likely associated with a sting jet) and a pronounced surface pressure gradient on the backside of the departing low, with a nearly 10-millibar gradient transecting North Central KS from northeast-to-southwest at 5 p.m. (from around 990 mb at Hebron NE to around 1000 mb at Hill City KS). ||Closing with some comments regarding official NWS forecasts leading up to this historic event, there was excellent awareness several days in advance regarding the likelihood of powerful non-convective winds both ahead of (southerlies) and behind (westerlies) the intense surface low pressure system, along with an unusually-concerning fire weather threat. A High Wind Watch was issued for North Central KS early on the 13th (48-60 hours in advance) and was subsequently upgraded to a High Wind Warning early on the 14th. Meanwhile, a Fire Weather Watch was issued early on the 14th (36 hours in advance) and upgraded to a Red Flag Warning that afternoon. However, what was not as well anticipated (both at the local and national forecast level) was that the area would also face the threat of severe convection, as the fast-tracking squall line ended up forming slightly earlier and several counties farther west-southwest than most model data suggested (especially 12+ hours out). As a result, there was a late ramp-up of convective threat categories within North Central KS on Dec. 15th SPC Day 1 Outlooks, progressing from the initial 06Z outlook that kept any official severe risk altogether east of the local area, to the 1630Z outlook that at least shifted a sliver of Marginal (level 1) and Slight (level 2) categories westward into parts of (albeit not enough of) the area.

June 19, 2021

Between 930 p.m. and midnight CDT on this Saturday evening, the southern section of a fairly compact, but localized-intense mesoscale convective system (MCS) centered along the Kansas-Nebraska border charged across this six-county North Central Kansas area. Along the way, this system prompted several measured wind gusts mainly in the 55-65 MPH range along with several reports of minor to moderate wind damage, particularly within Phillips/Smith counties along the apex of a bowing segment (which likely featured embedded gusts of 70+ MPH). A sampling of damage reports included: several downed power lines and/or poles in the Logan, Prairie View and Kensington areas; a small shed destroyed and a damaged grain elevator leg in Stuttgart; trees down across Highway 8 in northwestern Smith County. As for measured mesonet peak gusts, a few of the strongest featured: 65 MPH in northeastern Phillips County, 63 MPH in Plainville and 62 MPH at Kirwin Reservoir. Although winds were overall less-intense in eastern portions of the local area, a 61 MPH gust occurred as far east as Beloit. ||This MCS first organized and reached severe levels within northeast Colorado between 5-7 p.m. CDT, with its intense gust front invading the local area into Phillips/Rooks counties between 9:30-10 p.m. CDT. During the next hour the most intense bowing segment departed east-northeastward into far southern Nebraska, but sporadic marginally-severe winds continued marching through the remainder of the local area before departing eastern Jewell/Mitchell counties by midnight CDT. Turning to the meteorology behind this event, this was a fairly classic setup for High Plains MCS development. In the mid-upper levels, broad west-northwesterly flow prevailed over the region, with forcing aided by a low amplitude shortwave trough. At the surface, North Central Kansas resided slightly north of a west-east oriented quasi-stationary front draped through central Kansas, promoting an easterly wind regime. During the early evening, a rather unstable airmass occupied the local area ahead of the approaching convective complex, with dewpoints in the mid-upper 60s (F) fostering mixed-layer CAPE of 2000-3000 J/kg. Although effective bulk shear was not overly-strong (only around 35 knots), the combination of a surging cold pool and the development of a 30-40 knot southerly low level jet aided MCS intensification.

May 26, 2021

Severe thunderstorms affected portions of north central Kansas during the evening hours of May 26th. Initial thunderstorm development for this event occurred well west of the area across NW Kansas and SW Nebraska during the late afternoon hours, in which several supercells developed in the vicinity of a low pressure, warm front, and dry line triple point. This is where the most severe weather, including tornadoes, occurred. Additional intense supercells developed along Interstate 70 near Russell, Kansas, but this activity remained primarily south of the Hastings CWA. However, a small area of severe wind gusts occurred further north into Mitchell County on the edge of stratiform rain and caused some power pole and tree damage in and around the Beloit area. The initial western supercells weakened before moving into our area. However, additional surface based supercells developed west of Hill City between 8-9PM CDT, and moved into western portions of Phillips and Rooks Counties between 9-10PM CDT. Large hail up to golf ball size was reported with a supercell in Rooks County. This supercell transitioned to a bowing structure as it shifted eastward and later produced quarter size hail in Mitchell County as well as damaging wind gusts in Jewell County between 10PM and midnight. Gusts were estimated to be at least 75 MPH as at least 8 power poles were snapped along with trees 18-24 inches in diameter. Non-severe thunderstorms continued into the early morning hours of May 27th.||Overall, this event was less impactful than forecast. Nearly all of the Kansas portion of the Hastings CWA was in a ���Moderate Risk��� in the SPC Day 1 Convective Outlook. A potent upper level disturbance provided strong deep layer shear, but the early-day convection along Interstate 70 led to decreased surface based instability further north. Also, the upper disturbance was slower to eject onto the Plains that originally expected. Ultimately, this kept the most intense convection (and associated tornadoes and significant severe hail) west and south of north central Kansas.

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Power outage (also called a power cut, a power blackout, power failure or a blackout) is a short-term or a long-term loss of the electric power to a particular area.

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Beloit, Kansas

City Beloit
County Mitchell
State Kansas (KS)
Country United States
Zip Codes 67420

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