Power Outage in Beloit, KS

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Automated Weather Observing System at Moritz Memorial Airport measured a wind speed of 68 mph. There was widespread tree damage and power loss in the area.

A few tree limbs and power lines were knocked down by the wind.

Power poles reported snapped.

A storm chaser captured video of a tornado that started near Solomon Rapids and moved north. The tornado exited Mitchell County and entered Jewell County along Highway 14. Being in open and rural areas of Mitchell County, only trees and a few power poles were damaged as well as some wheat fields.

A storm chaser captured video of a tornado that started near Solomon Rapids and moved north. The tornado exited Mitchell County and entered Jewell County along Highway 14. Being in open and rural areas of Mitchell County, only trees and a few power poles were damaged as well as some wheat fields.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Mid-February 2021 unleashed a relentless blast of brutal cold, the likes of which North Central Kansas had not endured in several decades. Of the few long-time NWS cooperative observer temperature stations within the six-county area, the 10-day stretch from the 7th-16th marked the overall-coldest 10 days in either 32 years (since Dec. 1989) or 38 years (since Dec. 1983)...based on average/mean temperature. Focusing specifically on the Smith Center observer data (84 years of available records), the 10-day average temperature between the 7th-16th was -0.3 degrees (F), an incredible 32 degrees below the 30-year normal. Daily highs over the course of the 10 days ranged from -2 to +14 degrees, while daily lows ranged from -20 to 0. Among other temperature tidbits for Smith Center, nine straight days of sub-zero lows at the official NWS observer station matched the previous record first achieved in Dec. 1983, and the nearby unofficial airport AWOS spent AROUND 45 HOURS AT-OR-BELOW ZERO between the early afternoon of the 14th and late morning of the 16th (this likely hadn't occurred since at least Feb. 1989). In addition, the low temperature of -20 on the 15th set a new February record (coldest low since Dec. 1989), while the high temperature of -2 on the 15th matched the existing February record first set in 1989. Factoring in winds (albeit relatively light through the majority of the 10-day period), the most frigid wind chill readings occurred between the evening of the 14th and the morning of the 16th, prompting a long-fuse Wind Chill Warning for all of North Central Kansas. On both mornings of the 15th and 16th, a handful of unofficial automated stations recorded wind chill values well down into the -30 to -40 range, highlighted by -37 at mesonet stations near Lebanon and Kirwin on the 15th and -37 at Smith Center airport on the 16th. ||Focusing on impacts, the local North Central Kansas area was just a tiny sliver of an expansive swath of the central and southern United States that battled this historic cold, as sub-freezing temperatures surged all the way into south Texas (even promoting a light coating of snow at Galveston). This cold outbreak put a considerable strain on not only the local, but especially the regional power and energy industry. While North Central Kansas avoided more serious/longer-lasting power disruptions that ravaged many southern states, fairly brief rolling blackouts (typically around 30 minutes) occurred within the area on the 15th-16th, as called for by the Southwest Power Pool (the independent regional transmission organization that manages the electric grid and wholesale power market for portions of 14 central and southern states, including Kansas). Turning to the large-scale meteorological picture, this prolonged/intense cold outbreak was driven in the mid-upper levels by a parade of troughs circulating around a quasi-stationary parent vortex churning over southern Canada, each one further reinforcing/intensifying the magnitude of Arctic air allowed to spill southward through the central United States. At the surface, persistent, predominantly northerly flow prevailed for days on end as a sprawling Arctic high increasingly-dominated much of the central and northeastern United States. Also contributing to the magnitude of persistent cold in North Central Kansas was a variable blanket of snow cover, generally ranging from 1-2 inches south of Highway 24 to as deep as 6-9 inches in some areas along/north of Highway 36, where a series of snow events brushed the area between the 6th-14th. Concluding with a brief rundown of how North Central Kansas finally crawled out from underneath the 10-day crush of ruthless cold, improvement finally got underway on the 17th and trended upward for several days thereafter, with high temperatures across most of the area recovering into the teens on the 17th, 20s on the 18th, 30s-40s on the 19th (ending a 13-day sub-freezing streak at Smith Center), 40s-50s on the 20th, and even reaching the 70s by the 23rd.

Intense low pressure system brings prolonged period of strong to severe wind gusts to north central Kansas from the early morning hours on the 14th, though the afternoon on the 15th. The initial surge of strong wind gusts of 50-60mph occurred along and behind of a strong cold front that was associated with an intense (sub-990 mb) surface low pressure near the North Dakota/Canada border. This initial surge of northwesterly wind gusts arrived during the early morning hours of January 13th, between midnight and 2am. Wind gusts weakened for a period early Thursday morning before increasing once again during the mid to late morning as the primary surface low dropped southeast from northern MN into northeast IA. The strong winds were the result of steep low level lapse rates and efficient mixing into an intense low level jet. ||Wind gusts up to 65mph are not terribly unusual for this area, but what set this system apart from many others was the long duration of strong winds - around 24 to 36 hours! In fact, despite many areas reaching High Wind Warning criteria on Thursday, March 14, many areas of north central Kansas actually experienced their peak wind gusts from this event during the morning hours of the 15th. Damage and impacts from the high wind were fairly typical, generally ranging from tree and power line damage to some roof damage. There were no known widespread or long-lasting power outages from this event at the time of this writing.

It's quite rare that widespread/severe NON-thunderstorm winds take center stage over thunderstorms during June in North Central Kansas, but that's exactly what happened on this Tuesday as an anomalously strong low pressure system (by June standards) advanced through the Central Plains. For sure, the number one weather story across these six counties was several hours of intense north winds, commonly sustained 30-40 MPH and gusting 40-60+ MPH in the wake of a powerful late-spring cold front. Based on a variety of unofficial sensors, some of the highest afternoon-evening gusts featured: 66 MPH near Logan, 62 MPH in rural eastern Rooks County, 59 MPH near Kirwin and 58 MPH at Phillipsburg airport and also near Webber. These winds undoubtedly caused several instances of mainly minor damage within the area, but ground-truth reports were quite limited. For the majority of this area, the overall-worst winds concentrated during portions of the noon-midnight CDT time frame. Turning to thunderstorms, while non-severe activity was common across much of North Central Kansas during the late afternoon and especially evening, this area narrowly dodged a severe storm threat due mainly to a strong surface cold front and dryline passing through prior to robust development taking place along these boundaries. However, a few strong to severe storms materialized just barely off to the east-northeast within counties such as Republic KS and Thayer NE. ||Both in the mid-upper levels and at the surface, the intensity of this weather system was quite abnormal for June...more reminiscent of those that sometimes occur earlier in the spring. Aloft, a deep closed low slowly tracked from eastern CO around daybreak on the 9th to northeast KS by sunset, eventually departing the Central Plains into northern MO by sunrise on the 10th. The associated surface low center lumbered east through northern KS over the course of the day (nearly directly across the local area), deepening to around 993 millibars in the process. While the position and track of the surface low/cold front spared most of the area from severe storms, especially Jewell/Mitchell counties dodged a potentially significant threat as the environment briefly became conditionally supportive of supercells and possible tornadoes during the afternoon. In fact, mesoscale parameters in this area briefly featured a potent combination of mixed-layer CAPE around 2000 J/kg, deep layer wind shear of 50-70 knots and 0-1 kilometer shear of 20-30 knots. As for the unusual nature of such intense northerly winds so late in the spring, it's worth noting that howling speeds of 50-70 knots a few thousand feet above the ground (at 850 millibars) registered 3-4 standard deviations above normal for the date...basically off the charts.

High winds occurred behind a deep, occluded low on this Saturday. At daybreak, a 987 mb low was near central Nebraska with an occluded front extending southeastward to the triple point near Springfield, MO. Through the day, this low slowly migrated across northern Nebraska to near Sioux City, IA by sunset. The tight pressure gradient in the western semi-circle of the low gradually enveloped the region resulting in strengthening winds. Winds were strongest between noon and midnight CST. During that time frame, northwest winds were sustained at 25 to 35 MPH, with frequent gusts between 45 and 50 MPH. At times, winds were sustained around 40 MPH. Less frequent peak gusts were mostly between 50 and 60 MPH. The highest measured wind gusts were 62 MPH at Hunter, and 58 MPH near Codell, Bellaire, and Speed. As is typical for this part of the nation, there was very little in the way of damage or power outages.

Severe winds, flooding, and a brief tornado occurred from multiple periods of thunderstorms from late afternoon on this Sunday evening into the nighttime hours. From 5 to 6 PM CST, thunderstorms moving from northwest Kansas into south central Nebraska clipped northern Phillips county. Anvil rain from thunderstorms over central Kansas began spreading into Rooks, Osborne, and Mitchell counties around 5 PM CST as well. This rain overspread all of north central Kansas over the following couple hours. Around 7 PM CST, the back edge of this rain began progressing across Rooks and Osborne counties. As this occurred, a wake low developed producing damaging winds in some locations. Numerous trees limbs were snapped in Plainville and these damaging winds extended all the way to Osborne where trees were damaged there as well. An unofficial home weather station measured a wind gust of 70 MPH in eastern Rooks county. As this rain exited north central Kansas, more scattered thunderstorms developed near Interstate 70 and moved northeast into the area. Just after midnight, a brief EF-0 tornado touched down near Tipton and damaged a residence and some nearby trees and power poles. Shortly thereafter, the same narrow line of storms produced a wind gust of 59 mph at an unofficial station over south central Mitchell county. Meanwhile, a mesoscale convective system had developed over southwest Kansas. The northern portion of this MCS crossed north central Kansas between 11 PM and 2 AM. While no severe storms occurred, more heavy rain fell over northern Phillips county, where heavy rain had occurred from earlier thunderstorms. Repeated episodes of heavy rain resulted in a swath of 2.5 to nearly 5 inches from northwest Kansas into south central Nebraska. This swath of rain clipped northern Phillips county and fell directly along the basin of Prairie Dog Creek. 4.90 inches of rain fell in 12 hours at Long Island.||At sunrise, a stationary front extended from the lower Great Lakes across northern Kansas to low pressure near Pueblo, Colorado. During the afternoon, this front moved into Nebraska as a warm front. The upper-level flow was highly-amplified with a deep trough over the Western U.S., and a subtropical high over Florida. Kansas was just west of a ridge that extended from Arkansas to Montana. Before rain began falling, temperatures were in the 70s with dewpoints in the 60s. Mid-level lapse rates were 7.0-7.5 C/km, resulting in MLCAPE around 2000 J/kg. Deep layer shear was initially 30-35 kt, but increased to 60 kt by midnight. MUCAPE was still around 1500 J/kg.

For most of this six-county North Central Kansas area, the quick-hitting-but-significant winter storm and blizzard that struck on this Saturday was likely the overall most-impactful storm of the 2018-19 winter season. This storm resulted in several hours of white-out conditions, promoting treacherous to near-impossible travel. As for snow amounts, the majority of the area received at least 6-8, with localized higher totals to around 10. Per several CoCoRaHS and NWS cooperative observers, some of the highest official totals featured: 10 near Plainville, 9 at Covert, 8.9 near Webber and 8.3 at Webster Dam. The lowest totals focused within central and especially western Phillips County, where 2-5 was common. Of course, winds were a major factor in the blizzard conditions, as sustained northerly speeds averaged 25-30 MPH with gusts commonly 35-40 MPH, frequently reducing visibility to around 1/4 mile or less.||Breaking down timing, this was roughly a nine-hour storm for the area as a whole. The first moderate-heavy snow bands blossomed between 9-11 a.m., peaked in intensity during the early-mid afternoon, and then gradually ended from west-to-east during the late afternoon and early evening, with even the far eastern counties along Highway 14 mostly snow-free by 7 p.m. In the mid-upper levels, this was a fairly classic recipe for a major winter storm/blizzard, as a powerful shortwave trough started off centered over the TX Panhandle on the morning of the 23rd, reached the KS/NE/MO border area by sunset and gradually departed across IA into WI through the night. The associated strong surface low pressure system followed a very similar track. Around the time snow broke out in North Central Kansas, the low was centered over south central KS with a central pressure around 1000 millibars. Slight intensification commenced through the afternoon and evening as it headed northeast, registering around 996 millibars over southeast IA by 9 p.m. From a forecast perspective this was a well-anticipated event, with a Winter Storm Watch first issued for all six local counties on the afternoon of the 21st, around 42-44 hours before the onset of heavy snow and blizzard conditions.

A blizzard occurred across most of north central Kansas on this Saturday night and Sunday. Saturday afternoon, a narrow band of snow developed, in the shape of an arc, across Nebraska to near Denver. This band formed in the deformation zone of developing low pressure. During the evening, this band expanded and moved southeast. The core of this band crossed north central Kansas between 11 PM CST Saturday and 11 AM CST Sunday, although windy conditions maintained blowing snow a little while after the snow ended. Widespread, frequent wind gusts between 45 and 55 mph were common, which severely reduced the visibility in falling and blowing snow. Near zero visibility was reported at Beloit, Lebanon, Mankato, Osborne, Phillipsburg, Smith Center, and Stockton. The strength of the winds resulted in scattered power outages across all six counties. First responders were busy responding to slide-offs and minor accidents due to slippery roads. Motorists were urged to avoid traveling. Measuring the snowfall was extremely difficult due to the wind, with most locations estimating 3 to 7 inches of accumulation. The highest estimated amounts were 8.0 inches near Hunter, 7.1 at Plainville, and 7.0 at Beloit. Snow drifted to 3 and 4 ft deep in spots. The snow and wind resulted in numerous closed or impassible roads. The Kansas Governor declared a state of emergency. Numerous churches cancelled services. Schools in Beloit, Osborne, Plainville, and Smith Center were closed Monday, and Phillipsburg schools were delayed 2 hours. ||A woman lost her life near Cawker City due to the storm. She abandoned her vehicle after it slid off the road and became stuck in a ditch on Highway 24 in Mitchell county. She succumbed from exposure to the cold and was found Tuesday, the 27th, some distance from her vehicle. ||During the daytime hours Saturday, an Arctic cold front advanced south across Nebraska. A separate low pressure system moved through Wyoming and Colorado into southwest Kansas. This low and its associated fronts moved east along the Kansas-Oklahoma border Saturday night while the Arctic front continued moving south into Kansas in its wake. The low moved into Missouri Sunday while high pressure over the Canadian Prairies begin building into Kansas. In the upper-levels, amplification was occurring with a building ridge along the West Coast. This resulted in a shortwave trough deepening and becoming a closed low over Nebraska and Kansas.

Severe thunderstorms occurred in some spots between highways 24 and 36 late in the afternoon on this Thursday. Throughout the morning and early afternoon, a narrow band of light rain, oriented from southwest-northeast, moved from eastern Colorado into western Kansas. Skies were sunny ahead of this rain band and by mid-afternoon, scattered thunderstorms began forming at its leading edge. Around 330 PM CST, these storms began moving into Phillips county, and they were part of a larger line of storms that formed along or ahead of the rain band from Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Garden City, Kansas. This line of storms crossed north central Kansas between 330 and 630 PM CST. After 530 PM CST, enough storms had formed along the common cold pool to result in the formation of a squall line over Jewell and Mitchell counties. Most of the severe weather occurred from a single storm that produced damaging downburst winds over central and northeast Rooks county, and one inch hail in southwest Smith county. That storm occurred prior to the formation of the squall line. Winds were measured as high as 70 MPH at the airport just south of Stockton, and nearby power lines were downed across Highway 183 resulting in its closure for a time. Power lines were also knocked down in the city of Stockton and a tree was blown down near Woodston. Elsewhere, the only other severe weather was a measured wind gust of 60 MPH in Beloit as the squall line moved through the city, but winds between 50 and 55 mph were measured in multiple locations in Mitchell and Jewell counties.||In the preceding days, an east-west oriented front had become quasi-stationary from the Ohio Valley across central Nebraska to Nevada. During the morning hours on this date, a low formed on the front near North Platte, Nebraska. This low then accelerated to near Sioux City, Iowa by mid-afternoon with its trailing cold front becoming mobile and moving southeast. The storms formed along this front. In the upper-levels, a subtropical high was over the Tennessee Valley and gradually moved into the Carolinas as a fairly strong shortwave trough moved out of the Northern Rockies into Northern and Central Plains. Immediately ahead of the front, temperatures were in the lower to middle 90s with dewpoints in the lower to middle 60s. Combined with mid-level lapse rates between 7.0 and 7.5 C/km, SBCAPE was between 1500 and 2000 J/kg. Deep layer shear was near 40 kt.

Severe thunderstorms produced very large hail and damaging winds across portions of Osborne, Jewell, and Mitchell counties late on this Saturday afternoon. Between 2 and 3 PM CST, the first couple storms began forming south and southwest of Hill City. Around 330 PM CST, one storm moved into southwestern Rooks county. It was joined by several other storms which continued to develop along I-70 between Wakeeney and Russell. As the Rooks county storm moved east, these storms moved north and they all merged over Osborne county. Just prior to the merger, a left-moving supercell, fresh after the split, produced hail up to the size of tennis balls near the southern border of Osborne county. After the merger, the newly-formed multicell cluster took the form of a small bow echo as it moved across Mitchell county between 5 and 6 PM CST. The mesoscale convective system produced strong downburst winds that were estimated at 60 mph over central Osborne county and measured at 66 mph over Mitchell county, just west of Beloit. While this was occurring, other cells formed over Jewell county and became severe. Before merging, the southern storm produced a measured wind gust of 78 mph in the town of Jewell, while the northern one produced spotty wind damage from the town of Mankato to Lovewell Reservoir. Tree limbs were snapped off in Mankato, at least one power pole was snapped off northeast of town, and an old county communications building suffered damage as the powerful downburst winds blew the roof off. Rain then damaged the radio equipment housed inside.||These storms formed along and ahead of a Canadian cold front. The flow aloft was west-southwest from Arizona to Maine and it was low in amplitude. A shortwave trough was along the New Mexico-Texas border and lifting northeast. Before the thunderstorms moved in, temperatures were near 90 with dewpoints in the middle to upper 60s. Mid-level lapse rates were near 7.0 C/km. This resulted in MLCAPE around 2000 J/kg. Deep layer shear was around 40 kt. ||This event was one of several episodes of heavy convective rains that contributed to a very wet start to September. This event alone produced 3 to 4 inch rain amounts over parts of Osborne and Mitchell counties as scattered non-severe storms continued to develop through the night, after the severe storms had exited north central Kansas. Four-day rainfall totals ending on the morning of the 5th ranged from 3 to 6 inches over Osborne, Mitchell, and Jewell counties. The highest rainfall amounts included 6.55 at Cawker City, 5.98 at Jewell, 5.22 at Beloit, and 5.20 at Osborne.

The pre-dawn hours on this Saturday featured a very isolated instance of wind damage in the Beloit area, as estimated 70 MPH winds around 4:45 a.m. CDT peeled the roof off a floral business on the south side of town and also downed a few power lines. Rather oddly, there were no other reports of storm damage in the area, and the nearby airport recorded a peak gust of only 44 MPH, serving as further evidence to the quite-localized nature of these damaging winds. ||Despite the lack of obvious severe weather signatures via radar or automated surface observations, there were a few seemingly-weak thunderstorms in the area, which might have interacted in some manner with a southward-moving outflow boundary to promote damaging winds. This outflow boundary was associated with what had earlier been a severe-wind producing linear mesoscale convective system (MCS) in south central/southeast Nebraska, which had since weakened after pushing southward into Kansas. Many hours before reaching the local area, the initial severe convection that spawned this outflow boundary developed over south central South Dakota during the late afternoon/early evening of the 8th before surging south-southeast.

Severe storms produced some hail and a little wind damage on this Tuesday afternoon and early evening. Around 4 PM CST, thunderstorms began forming over Rooks County and, by 5 PM, storm mergers resulted in the formation of a short line segment that extended from southwest to northeast. As this line expanded into Osborne County, other scattered storms formed over Smith, Jewell, and Mitchell counties. These storms joined others over central Kansas, as an MCS developed and a common cold pool formed. The large line of storms that evolved exited Smith, Jewell, and Mitchell counties by 7 PM. As a result, the initial line segment of storms rapidly weakened. The new line became severe over parts of Rooks, Osborne, and Mitchell counties, producing hail up to the size of ping pong balls along with high winds. Power lines were knocked down in Cawker City. Minor street flooding was reported in Beloit where an automated mesonet station measured 2.48 inches of rain in an hour and 15 minutes.||Weak flow was over the United States as the polar jet stream was unusually far to the north over Canada. A slow-moving cut-off low was over western South Dakota. During the day, a shortwave trough south of the low moved from Colorado into the Central Plains. A ridge was over the Great Lakes with another cut-off low over the Gulf Coast. The pressure pattern at the surface was extremely weak over the Central Plains. Just prior to thunderstorm development, temperatures were in the lower 80s with dewpoints in the upper 60s. Mid-level lapse rates were 7-7.5 C/km, but MLCAPE was only 1000-1500 J/kg. Deep layer shear was around 40 kts due to a strong upper-level jet streak accompanying the trough.

Thunderstorms produced damaging winds and some severe sized hail over several counties in north central Kansas on this Tuesday evening. Scattered single cell thunderstorms began developing around 3 PM CST from central Kansas northeast into southern Nebraska. The formation of numerous cells quickly resulted in a transition to a multicell convective mode by 4 PM CST. This nearly continuous line of storms lifted north into Nebraska by 530 PM CST. As these storms affected north central Kansas, low-end severe hail occurred from southwest to northeast across Rooks, Osborne, and Jewell Counties. The strongest winds were west of this swath. Phillips County was hit particularly hard as measured wind gusts reached 75 mph in Logan and 71 mph at Phillipsburg. In Phillipsburg, large tree branches were snapped off, knocking out power. The roof was also blown off a restaurant. Scattered thunderstorms continue to develop and move into north central Kansas, at times through the evening and overnight hours, and even into Wednesday morning. None of them were severe until a multicell cluster formed over Lincoln County around 530 AM CST. As this cluster lifted north across Mitchell County, between 645 and 745 AM, they produced 1 inch hail. Other scattered storms developed across the rest of north central Kansas, during the morning hours. They weakened and dissipated, forming a large shield of anvil rain that extended into south central Nebraska. As this rain shield began to dissipate, conditions became favorable for a wake low to form. This resulted in a wind gust of 61 mph at Smith Center, at 1015 AM CST. Repeated thunderstorm activity resulted in swaths of 2 to 3 inches of rain. The highest amount was 3.80 inches in Smith Center.||Low pressure was over South Dakota, and its trailing weak cold front moved into south central Nebraska during the day. It became stationary as low pressure formed over southeast Colorado and deepened to near 990 mb. In the upper-levels, a longwave trough was over the Western U.S. with a ridge over the East. A strong shortwave trough lifted out of the Desert Southwest into the Southern Plains, while a closed low dropped into the Pacific Northwest. In the preconvective environment, an elevated mixed layer had overspread a moist boundary layer. Mid-level lapse rates were between 8 and 9 C/km. MUCAPE was between 3000 and 4500 J/kg. With strong dynamic forcing, deep layer shear was very strong, between 40 and 60 kt.

A widespread ice storm occurred on this Sunday and Monday. Ice amounts were generally 0.25-0.5, with locally higher amounts. An observer 7 miles north-northeast of Natoma measured 0.75. It all began just well before sunrise Sunday with scattered showers of light freezing rain and sleet. That was followed by two swaths of light freezing rain that lifted from south to north, through the day and evening. Each band was about 50 miles wide. The main, solid band of light to moderate freezing rain, associated with the deformation zone, lifted north into the region around midnight Sunday night. As the nighttime transitioned into the daytime hours Monday, the band contracted and pivoted, becoming oriented southwest-northeast. It diminished significantly and moved northeast during the afternoon, with the freezing rain ending.||There were probably many traffic accidents that were not reported. Numerous relatively short-lived power outages occurred, caused by both ice and falling tree limbs. Some tree limbs were snapped off in spots, with some as large as 8-10 in diameter. Melted precipitation amounts were significant, one to nearly 2 inches of precipitation measured.||At the surface, high pressure was over the Midwest Sunday, and it gradually drifted into New England Monday. The polar front extended from Texas, across the Gulf Coast States into the Carolina's Sunday, and it was quasi-stationary. A weak low pressure system exited New Mexico and moved into Texas, interacting with the pre-existing polar front. This low lifted north across Oklahoma and into Kansas Sunday night where it remained for most of the day Monday. In the upper-levels, split flow was over North America, with the main band of Westerlies along and just north of the Canadian border. Confluent flow was over the Northern Plains and Midwest. A small low tracked across northern Mexico and then lifted northeast into Oklahoma before opening up in the confluent flow.

The weather on Christmas 2016 was so unusual that it's probably a safe bet to categorize it as once in a lifetime Christmas weather for this six-county North Central Kansas area. While some past Christmases are remembered for more traditional significant winter weather such as snow, this one will go down in the record books for spring-like severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and even the first December tornado confirmed in this portion of northern Kansas since at least 1950 (when reliable records began). Then, later in the afternoon/evening, the Phillips County area endured an intense damaging wind event featuring sustained values of 30-50 MPH for a few hours and brief peak gusts around 70 MPH. These winds resulted in mainly minor damage to trees and power lines, and also flipped over several irrigation pivots. Because specific storm reports from this area were fairly sparse, the few official reports documented here likely reflect only some of the significant weather observed within North Central Kansas on this day. ||Focusing more detail on the thunderstorms and tornado, the culprit was a narrow, strongly forced squall line that steadily advanced across the entire local area from west-to-east. Timing-wise, this was a fairly early show as convection first entered Rooks/Phillips counties around 11 AM and exited Jewell/Mitchell counties only a few hours later between 1:00-1:30 PM. While most locations experienced sub-severe winds up to around 50 MPH, brief heavy rain and perhaps small hail with the passage of these storms, there were a few transient small-scale bowing segments and circulations embedded within the line, resulting in pockets of damaging winds and one confirmed, short-track tornado. This EF1-rated tornado touched down northwest of Alton around 11:45 AM and tipped over an empty bulk bin and caused very minor damage to a home. ||Even though the day had already featured highly-unusual and locally-damaging Christmas weather, for parts of especially Phillips County the worst was yet to come in the form of early-evening damaging winds. While the vast majority of wind damage associated with this event focused to the north into Nebraska, automated sensors in both Phillipsburg and Logan clocked gusts of 70 MPH from the west-southwest shortly after 5 PM, followed by up to a few hours of sustained speeds to around 40 MPH before easing up. Although gusty evening winds likely brushed into adjacent local counties as well, no known reports breached High Wind Warning criteria. Forecast-wise, while fairly stout winds were anticipated to move in behind the departing low, the ferocity of peak gusts exceeded expectations. ||Closing with an examination of the meteorological setup, it certainly was more reminiscent of March or April in North Central Kansas than late-December. In the mid-upper levels, a powerful, negatively-tilted vorticity maximum deepened over the course of the day as it emerged from the Central Rockies, reaching north central Nebraska by early evening. Just to the southeast of the mid-level low center, a formidable upper jet streak of 120+ knots migrated overhead. At the surface, it was a classic setup for low-topped, severe convection as a deep low pressure system intensified to around 986 millibars in far northeast CO by noon, allowing a warm front to surge north into Nebraska. Despite considerable cloud cover, temperatures rising well into the 50s F and dewpoints climbing into the upper-40s to mid-50s F allowed mixed-layer CAPE to reach a few hundred J/kg. Combined with strong deep-layer wind shear of generally 60-80 knots and exceptional low-level shear of 50-60 knots, even this relatively meager instability proved sufficient for damaging winds and brief tornadoes. By early evening, the intense surface low pressure center reached north central Nebraska, placing the local area behind an occluded Pacific cold front and within a zone of deep atmospheric subsidence. In tandem with other factors such as steadily-rising pressures and increased vertical mixing, this allowed very strong west-southwest winds within a few thousand feet of the surface to mix downward, driving the evening damaging winds in the Phillips County area.

A severe thunderstorm produced damaging winds across portions of Mitchell County on this Wednesday evening. This thunderstorm entered southwestern Mitchell County, from Russell county, around 7 p.m. CST, and tracked from southwest to northeast across the county between 7 and 8 p.m. As this storm passed through the Beloit area, winds measured as high as 78 mph snapped multiple power poles and large tree branches. Power outages lasted as much as 12 hours. A portion of the tin roof was also blown off from an auto parts store. ||This storm formed near cold front that moved into northern Kansas, the previous night, and became stationary. In the upper levels, a subtropical high was over Texas, with a ridge extending north to Minnesota. Troughs were along the East Coast and over the western United States. A shortwave trough was embedded, in the western trough, from Montana south to Utah. Surface temperatures were in the lower to middle 80s, with dewpoints in the upper 60s and lower 70s. Mid-level lapse rates were low, resulting in MLCAPE between 1000 and 2000 J/kg. Deep layer shear was 30-35 knots.

Primarily between 7 pm-1 am CDT on this Saturday evening, much of this six-county North Central Kansas area observed widespread thunderstorm activity. However, all severe-criteria hail and wind reports, along with the heaviest pockets of torrential rainfall, targeted Jewell County along with northern and eastern portions of Smith and Mitchell counties. All severe reports in these areas occurred between 8-10 pm CDT in association with a southeastward-drifting supercell cluster that first blossomed over Franklin County Nebraska before crossing the state line into the local area. As this initially rather discrete severe storm affected Smith County mainly between 8-9 pm CDT, it resulted in several reports of quarter to golf ball size hail in the Bellaire and Lebanon areas, and even one baseball size report just south of Lebanon. In that same portion of Smith County, estimated wind gusts up to around 80 MPH downed several power poles. Even slightly outside the main path of this storm, severe outflow winds of 59 MPH were measured at Smith Center airport. As the initial supercell merged into newly-developing convection over Jewell and northern Mitchell counties to become a larger-scale cluster, additional severe reports included estimated 60 MPH winds at Burr Oak and half dollar size hail several miles east of Beloit. At the same time severe weather was ongoing in Jewell and Mitchell counties, additional strong storms flared up farther west across parts of Phillips, Rooks, Smith and Osborne counties between 9-10 pm CDT. After 11 pm CDT storms across the local area weakened considerably, and by 2 am CDT the entire area was essentially rain-free. ||Rainfall-wise, the primary severe storm cluster produced three distinct, albeit small bullseyes of very heavy rainfall of generally 3-5. One of these was in northeastern Smith County, another in south central Jewell County where the NWS cooperative observer at Ionia measured 4.36, and the third one in northeastern Mitchell County where a CoCoRaHS observer reported 5.00 approximately five miles east of Beloit. Despite these pockets of very heavy rain there were very few ground-truth reports of flooding, although the Solomon River near Simpson crested only a few inches below flood stage on Sunday the 10th. ||This was a fairly typical late-summer severe weather event featuring fairly high instability values but only modest deep layer wind shear and weak large scale forcing. In the mid to upper levels, generally quasi-zonal flow was in place over the Central Plains, containing one or more fairly subtle shortwave troughs. At the surface, storms initiated in the vicinity of a northwest-southeast oriented quasi stationary front draped through the local area along an axis from western Nebraska to southeast Kansas, with this front partially comprised of a remnant outflow boundary from storms the night before. With surface dewpoints well into the 60s F across the local area, most-unstable CAPE climbed as high as 2000-3000 J/kg. Although at least one storm in the local area briefly exhibited supercell structure, 0-6 kilometer deep layer wind shear only averaging around 30 knots promoted a predominant multicell/quasi-linear mode.

During a month with several rounds of severe weather in this six-county portion of North Central Kansas, what transpired on this Saturday evening into the very early morning of Sunday the 15th was likely one of the most significant severe weather events of the entire 2014 convective season, especially in terms of widespread wind damage that raked from west-to-east across the area in the form of an intense forward-propagating squall line. A few hours prior to these severe winds entering the local area, an isolated supercell storm cluster drifted slowly northeast across parts of Rooks, Phillips and Smith counties before departing into Nebraska, producing one highly-visible, short-track landspout tornado and a few reports of quarter to golf ball size hail. The EF1-rated tornado, which touched down around 530 pm CDT near Webster State Park shortly after storms first initiated, damaged power poles and fencing along its brief path. In terms of hail, the largest reported golf ball size stones fell in the Glade area shortly after the dissipation of the Rooks County tornado. However, in terms of widespread damage, the aforementioned severe squall line that rolled across the six-county area later in the evening was truly the main event. Based on known wind and damage reports (which likely only represented a fraction of the total, individual instances of storm damage across the area), this north-to-south oriented squall line produced a swath of 60-90 MPH gusts through nearly every square mile of North Central Kansas. In addition to several estimated severe wind speeds, a few of the most intense measured gusts included 86 MPH at the Phillipsburg airport and 77 MPH at a home weather station near Webber. Needless to say, a significant amount of wind damage occurred with this squall line as it uprooted or mangled countless trees and likely also damaged several structures. Based on a limited number of damage reports that were received, one of the more newsworthy incidents involved several campers blown over at Webster State Park, along with a roof blown off a cabin. Due to the progressive nature of these storms, rainfall totals across most of North Central Kansas averaged less than 1. ||Breaking down event timing, the initial supercell cluster that produced the landspout tornado in northern Rooks County flared up between 5-6 pm CDT near the leading edge of the invading cold front. As this storm cluster slowly drifted northeast through Smith County, it evolved into a more compact-but-organized discrete supercell that exited northward into Nebraska around 830 pm CDT. This storm's departure ushered in a nearly two-hour lull in local thunderstorm activity, before the leading edges of the incoming, intense squall line raced out of northwest Kansas into Phillips and Rooks counties between 10-11 pm CDT. For the next few hours, this fierce, bowing line raced across the remainder of the six-county area before gradually departing the eastern edges of Jewell and Mitchell counties between 12-1 am CDT, leaving behind only a trailing area of stratiform rain that lingered for a few more hours. ||On the synoptic scale, this was a fairly classic June setup for significant severe, as a progressive mid level shortwave trough kicked out of the Rockies and into the Central Plains, rotating around the southeast periphery of a parent closed low anchored over the Montana/Saskatchewan border area. As this occurred, strengthening and increasingly-diffluent mid-upper southwesterly flow overspread the local area. At the surface, a slow-moving cold front edged southeastward into North Central Kansas during the evening, embedded within an elongated 992-996 millibar low pressure center stretched from western Kansas into eastern Nebraska. During the late-afternoon to mid-evening time frame, temperatures gradually decreased from highs in the low-mid 90s F while dewpoints generally averaged in the mid-60s F. Mesoscale severe weather parameters during the early-mid evening featured 2000-3000 J/kg mixed layer CAPE in the presence of 40-60 knots of 0-6 kilometer deep layer vertical wind shear. As the evening wore on, low level shear intensified as the nose of a 50-60 knot low level jet focused into the area. This severe weather outbreak was well-anticipated a few days in advance at both the local WFO level as well as by the Storm Prediction Center, which already placed much of North Central Kansas in a Moderate Risk on the Day 2 outlooks 24-48 hours in advance and maintained/refined the Moderate Risk area into the Day 1 period.

Thunderstorms developed over eastern Colorado late on this Friday afternoon, taking the form a squall line oriented from northeast to southwest. This line advanced east through northwestern Kansas during the evening hours. Around 11 pm CDT, these storms moved into the northwestern corner of Phillips County and over the following four hours, this line slowly advanced across North Central Kansas. While these storms remained below severe levels in most locations, sporadic damage to buildings, power poles and trees was reported in localized portions of Osborne, Jewell and Mitchell counties. This included several large tree limbs knocked down in Cawker City, minor damage to a home in Downs, and a few power poles toppled along a swath in southern Jewell County. ||The upper-level flow was highly amplified, with a ridge over the eastern United States and a trough over the west. These storms were initiated by a slow-moving cold front associated with the trough. While archived instability information was unavailable, late afternoon high temperatures were in the lower 90, with dewpoints in the middle 50s. These storms formed in a strong wind environment with 40 kts around 4500 ft above ground level and 50 kts at 6000 ft. Deep layer shear was near 70 kts.

The second official blizzard of the season pounded most of this six-county portion of North Central Kansas on this Sunday. The greatest impacts were realized within Smith, Osborne, Mitchell and especially Jewell counties, as generally 3-9 inches of snow whipped around in strong sustained north-northwest winds of 25-35 MPH that sometimes gusted over 40 MPH. Although Phillips and Rooks counties also endured wintry conditions, snowfall amounts there averaged no more than 1-3 inches and visibility reductions were not as extreme. Snow first started developing in southwest-to-northeast bands around midnight, after transitioning from a rain/sleet mix that fell on the evening of the 9th. By sunrise, 3-5 inches had fallen across much of the area with higher amounts to 6 inches reported at Burr Oak, which was positioned under a particularly heavy snow band especially between 4-9 AM CDT. Although most of the accumulating snow ended within Phillips and Rooks counties by mid-morning, steady light to moderate snow bands persisted in much of the other four counties well into the afternoon hours before finally tapering off to flurries and largely ending from south to north by 5 PM CDT. However, at least minor blowing snow issues continued well into the evening hours as sustained winds slowly eased below 20 MPH. ||Per NWS cooperative observers, a few of the highest storm-total snow amounts included 9 at Burr Oak, 7 at Ionia and Jewell, 6 at Smith Center and Cawker City, and 5 at Beloit, Hunter and Covert. In contrast, locations farther west such as Logan only measured 0.5. On the synoptic scale aloft, this event was powered by the passage of a highly amplified and slightly positively tilted mid-upper trough that slowly lumbered across the Central United States. At 700 millibars, the heaviest snow bands concentrated under a pronounced deformation zone on the northwest periphery of a closed low/vort max that tracked from southwest Kansas on the evening of the 9th to southern Iowa by late evening on the 10th. At mid-afternoon on the 10th, surface maps confirmed that strong north winds and blizzard conditions were promoted by a tight pressure gradient between a 1004 millibar low over north central Missouri and a 1022 millibar ridge extending southward into northwest Nebraska. Enhancing the March misery across North Central Kansas were daytime temperatures only averaging in the mid-upper 20s, yielding wind chill values generally 7-15 degrees above zero.

The first significant winter storm of the 2012-2013 season brought widespread snowfall of generally 2-5 inches to the entire six-county area, but more notably several hours of near-blizzard to blizzard conditions that greatly enhanced event impacts. Officially, this was the first blizzard to strike this portion of North Central Kansas in nearly three years...since the Christmas 2009 event. Wind and blowing snow created white-out conditions that gradually overspread the area from west-to-east during the late afternoon and early evening hours of Wednesday the 19th, making travel difficult if not impossible. Prior to the arrival of moderate to heavy snow bands, much of the day featured little more than spotty passing rain showers before the arrival of colder air. During the evening hours, full-fledged blizzard conditions blossomed across parts of the area as an expansive shield of snow combined with steadily increasing north winds featuring sustained speeds generally 25-35 MPH but frequently gusting 40-45 MPH and sometimes higher. Primarily between 9 PM on the 19th and 1 AM on Thursday the 20th, the back edge of moderate to heavy snowfall gradually cleared the area from west to east, releasing its grip on the Highway 281 corridor around 11 PM. Even in the wake of falling snow, late night wind speeds were slow to decrease, keeping blowing snow going into the morning hours of the 20th. Per NWS cooperative observers, some of the highest snow totals included 5.2 in Smith Center and 5 in Phillipsburg. ||On the synoptic scale, this event was driven by a powerful, expansive mid-upper level trough translating eastward through the Central Plains, and featuring a closed 700 millibar low tracking across the northern half of Kansas. The most intense snow bands during the evening were associated with stout frontogenesis/deformation on the northwest side of the mid level circulation. At the surface, strong north winds and blizzard/winter storm conditions were promoted by a tight pressure gradient on the north side of roughly 996 millibar low that tracked along the Kansas/Oklahoma border during the afternoon and evening.

The coverage of severe thunderstorms with damaging winds ended up being more widespread than initially expected on this late Tuesday afternoon and early evening. Primarily between 5-8 PM CDT, a small quasi-linear complex of outflow-dominant multicell storms marched across most of this six-county area from west-to-east, resulting in several reports of damaging winds of 60-70 MPH and a few instances of small hail up to nickel size. A few of the most noteworthy reports included estimated 70 MPH winds near Woodston that knocked down several power poles and rolled 15-20 large hay bales across a road, and estimated 70 MPH winds in and near Downs that blew the second story off a house under construction and flattened several fences. Even as storms were exiting the far eastern edge of the area, estimated 60 MPH winds knocked a tree onto power lines at Formoso in Jewell County, sparking a house fire. Although most of the area measured well under 1 inch of rain from these storms, a localized pocket of heavy rain targeted parts of southern Jewell and northern Mitchell counties, highlighted by totals of 2.76 inches at Cawker City and 1.95 at Jewell, where nickel size hail also fell. ||The initial development of isolated, high-based multicell storms occurred over extreme northwest Kansas during the mid-afternoon hours along a subtle surface trough axis extending southwestward from north central Nebraska, with this activity gradually morphing into a quasi-linear complex as it charged east into North Central Kansas. In the mid and upper levels, flow was quasi-zonal and modest in strength, but contained weak embedded shortwave troughs well to the south of a much stronger wave sliding through eastern Montana. Although 0-6 kilometer vertical wind shear was only around 30 knots, surface-based CAPE up to around 1000 J/kg in the presence of a hot and deeply-mixed airmass with surface temperatures in the upper-90s and dewpoints only in the 50s resulted in a favorable environment for damaging outflow winds.

Between 4 PM CDT on Wednesday afternoon the 25th and 130 AM CDT on early Thursday morning the 26th, the majority of this six-county area experienced two separate rounds of fairly widespread strong to severe multicell storms. The first round peaked in intensity between 430 PM and 8 PM CDT, developing in response to intense surface heating as temperatures soared into the 100-110F range near a slow-moving cold front. Although radar signatures suggest that severe-criteria gusts of 60 MPH or higher might have affected parts of several counties during this late afternoon/early evening time frame, the only ground-truth reports came out of Mitchell County including a caved-in garage door south of Beloit and a round hay bale rolled across a road near Simpson. Once this initial round of convection moved out of the area to the south and east, a lull ensued before the second round of strong to severe convection flared up after nightfall. This round peaked in intensity between 1030 PM and 1 AM CDT and again consisted of a number of multicell storm clusters and short line segments. Although reports of severe weather were again limited, these nighttime storms dropped golf ball size hail in the community of Jewell and produced a 69 MPH measured gust at the Rooks County airport south of Stockton. Somewhere along the way, a few power poles were also snapped off several miles west of Stockton. Event-total rainfall amounts were highly variable across the area, but most places averaged less than 1 inch. However, considerably higher totals were measured in southern Jewell County, including 3.87 at Jewell and 2.83 in Ionia. ||In the mid and upper levels the flow was quasi-zonal, with the primary synoptic forcing for this event consisting of subtle shortwave energy passing through the Central Plains along the southern periphery of a dominant upper low centered near the North Dakota-Manitoba border. At the surface, a slow moving cold front gradually passed through North Central Kansas during the afternoon and evening. Although deep-layer vertical wind shear was rather meager at only around 25 knots at best, at least 1000 J/kg mixed-layer CAPE in the presence of a hot and deeply-mixed airmass with surface temperature-dewpoint depressions on the order of 40-50F was quite favorable for downbursts, especially with the initial round of storms.

Two distinct rounds of severe thunderstorms raked across the six-county area on this Saturday, resulting in several reports of large hail and damaging winds along with one EF1 tornado. However, considering that the entire area spent the day under its only High Risk convective outlook of the spring from the Storm Prediction Center, the situation could have been worse. No injuries were reported in this portion of North Central Kansas, and all significant, long-track tornadoes in the region remained just to the south across central and southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma. In the local area, the lone EF1 tornado touched down shortly after 2 PM CDT in western Mitchell County and tracked along a four-mile path just south of Tipton, destroying a few outbuilding and garages along the way. This tornado was rain-wrapped, and associated with a large high-precipitation supercell that moved northeast out of central Kansas. ||The first round of multiple severe storms lifted across the area from southwest to northeast mainly between 1130 AM and 330 PM CDT, with Mitchell County bearing the brunt of the activity. In addition to the tornado near Tipton, other storm reports included downed power lines near Glen Elder and estimated 60 MPH winds in Beloit. After these storms exited the area to the north and east, a lull of several hours ensued before the second round of scattered severe storms raced northward across the area between 730 PM and 10 PM CDT. Although these storms were not tornadic, severe weather reports included ping pong ball size hail in far southern Osborne County and quarter size hail in or near Phillipsburg, Kensington and Burr Oak, among other places. By 1030 PM CDT, storms had all but exited the local area for the night, although severe weather continued for nearby areas to the north, south and east. Although significant flooding was not an issue from this event, much of the area measured between 1-3 inches of rain, with one of the highest totals of 3.56 inches in Beloit. ||This severe weather outbreak was driven by a classic synoptic setup, as a powerful mid-upper level trough approached the Central Plains from the Four Corners region, featuring a 300 millibar jet streak in excess of 110 knots. At the surface, low pressure deepened over the course of the day, registering around 992 millibars by early evening over northwest Kansas. A well-defined warm front extended east from this low across south central Nebraska, as a sharpening dryline took shape along a line from southwest Nebraska to far western Oklahoma. With a strengthening and veering wind profile with height, shear parameters were quite supportive of significant severe weather. Around the time of the tornado near Tipton, mesoscale severe weather parameters featured around 2000 J/Kg mixed layer CAPE, 50-60 knots of deep layer vertical wind shear and 30-40 knots of surface-to-1 kilometer low level vertical shear. In addition, surface-to-1 kilometer storm relative helicity increased into at least the 300-500 m2/s2 range during the afternoon and evening hours, promoting a volatile environment for potentially strong, long-track tornadoes. Fortunately for this portion of North Central Kansas, most severe storms were less isolated than nearby tornadic supercells to the south, allowing storm scale interference to likely mitigate what could have been a more significant tornado event. ||On a regional and even national level, this was one of the most anticipated and well-advertised Central Plains tornado outbreaks ever. Although the majority of North Central Kansas was not in a High Risk outlook from the Storm Prediction Center until the early morning hours of the 14th, other parts of Kansas and Oklahoma were placed under a High Risk early on the 13th, marking the first time SPC ever issued a High Risk forecast so far in advance.

During a roughly 22-hour period from the early afternoon of Monday the 19th through late morning of Tuesday the 20th, this six-county portion of North Central Kansas experienced quite a north-to-south contrast in snowfall amounts, ranging from barely a trace along the Nebraska border, to a widespread 6 to locally 8 inches across mainly southern portions of Rooks, Osborne and Mitchell Counties. In between these two extremes, locations between the Highway 36 and Highway 24 corridors generally ranged from 0.5 to 4 inches. Per reports from various sources, some of the highest totals fell at Zurich (8 inches), Hunter (6 inches), Natoma (6 inches) and 17 miles south of Osborne (6 inches). As it turned out, this portion of North Central Kansas only caught the very northern edge of a significant winter storm that slammed much of western and central Kansas with even higher snow totals of 8-15 inches. In addition to the snow itself, north-northeast winds became a factor during this event. Sustained speeds of around 20 MPH and gusts to around 35 MPH resulted in considerable drifting and visibility restrictions, especially on the evening of the 19th as surface low pressure intensified in Texas and western Oklahoma. ||In the mid and upper levels, the main player behind this snowfall was a powerful closed low ejecting from eastern New Mexico on the afternoon of the 19th, to eastern Kansas on the afternoon of the 20th, although gradually weakening as it churned northeast. Most of the heavier snow bands were concentrated in the first several hours of the event between the mid-afternoon and mid-evening of the 19th, as upper level diffluence and attendant mid level frontogenesis peaked in intensity between the closed low approaching from the southwest, and the entrance region of a strong northern stream jet streak centered from northern Iowa across the Great Lakes. At the same time, the sharp north edge of accumulating snowfall was reinforced by the intrusion of dry low level air from a nearby surface ridge axis. Although bands of moderate to heavy snow became a bit more fragmented by midnight of the 20th, occasional flare-ups of banded snow continued through the late night and into the day, before largely ending by late morning. For several days after this event, a daily temperature gradient of at least 5-10 degrees took shape between areas nearer the Nebraska border with little to no snow cover, and the deeper snow pack across southern portions of Rooks, Osborne and Mitchell Counties.

Less than 48 hours after a line of damaging winds marched across North Central Kansas, a significant episode of severe weather targeted the six-county area on this Wednesday afternoon and early Thursday morning in the vicinity of a surface warm front. There were numerous reports of hail to golf ball size or larger across the area, and a few instances of damaging winds up to around 75 MPH. A brief EF0 tornado also occurred in far northern Phillips County. In addition, these storms drenched much of the area with torrential rainfall, bringing yet another round of significant flooding. Duration-wise, this was one of the most prolific severe weather events of the 2011 season, with at least one convective warning, and sometimes several, in effect at any given time for nearly 10 straight hours from around 4 PM to 2 AM CDT. A few of the more notable severe weather reports included 2-inch diameter hail in the Stockton and Natoma areas, and several power poles downed southeast of Alton. ||In terms of flooding, this was the third, and likely worst heavy rain event to strike this portion of North Central Kansas in a two-week span dating back to May 19th. Much of Smith, Jewell, Osborne and Mitchell Counties tallied 3-5 inches of rain. An observer at Ionia reported 4.59 inches from this event, bringing the total rainfall during the past nine days up to 9.57 inches. At one point in the evening, one foot of water was reported over Highway 14 in southern Mitchell County. Widespread rural flooding of creeks, streams and roads ensued as well, impacting various waterways including the Limestone, Oak and White Rock Creeks. Some evacuations were necessary northeast of Downs. Several main-stem rivers also went into flood, including the Solomon at Glen Elder and Beloit, North Fork Solomon at Portis, and South Fork Solomon at Woodston and Osborne. The gauges at Portis, Glen Elder and Beloit exceeded moderate flood stage, with Glen Elder cresting 5.76 feet over flood stage on the evening of the 2nd. ||This event essentially consisted of multiple, splitting supercell storms developing and tracking through the same areas. The first supercells initiated just west of the area around 330 PM CDT, quickly became severe, and rolled into Rooks and Phillips Counties by 430 PM. Although the initial volley of severe storms started to exit southern portions of Osborne and Mitchell Counties around 9 PM, considerable redevelopment soon took place farther west along the nose of a strong low-level jet. As a result, a whole new round of severe storms traversed the area for several more hours before finally exiting east of Jewell and Mitchell Counties by 2 AM, but not before producing gusts to 68 MPH at the Beloit airport. ||Although the mesoscale environment was supportive of severe weather, the long-lasting nature of this event was somewhat unexpected given a lack of large-scale forcing. The mid-levels featured only subtle, weak shortwave energy, well downstream from a powerful trough centered along the Pacific Northwest coast. However, deep-layer vertical wind shear around 40 knots, in combination with high mixed-layer CAPE values of 2500-4000 J/kg at the onset of the event made for a very conducive supercell environment. The primary instigator for multiple rounds of supercells was a persistent southerly low-level jet impinging over a surface warm front stretched from southwest Nebraska to east central Kansas. Winds along the nose of this jet at the 850-millibar level accelerated to 50 knots during the evening. This created very strong low-level wind shear and a mesoscale environment quite favorable for tornadoes. A review of radar data suggests that multiple storm-scale interactions, along with the outflow-dominant nature of some supercells likely spared North Central Kansas from a more significant tornado threat.

The mid-to-late evening hours of Memorial Day 2011 brought a fairly widespread round of strong to severe winds to much of North Central Kansas, as a narrow, intense line of storms marched from west to east across the majority of the six-county area. Along nearly the entire length of this northeast-southwest oriented squall line were estimated or measured wind gusts of 60-70 MPH, with a home weather station near Webber in Jewell County recording the highest known measured gust of 72 MPH. Other measured wind gusts included 69 MPH at the Smith Center airport, and 58 MPH at the Phillipsburg airport. Although specific reports of damage were limited, there was likely at least minor tree and power line damage in parts of the area. Along with the winds, there were also a few reports of quarter size hail. ||Focusing on timing, the initial severe storm development along the squall line took place to the north across central and south central Nebraska during the late afternoon and early evening hours. The line of storms eventually built south into Kansas as it moved east, first affecting Phillips and Rooks Counties between 8 and 9 PM CDT, and eventually exiting Jewell and Mitchell Counties between 1130 PM and 1230 AM CDT. ||The synoptic and mesoscale environment was certainly ripe for a damaging, linear wind event. Earlier in the day, a strong pressure gradient brought hours of sustained 30-40 MPH winds and frequent gusts of 45-50 MPH to North Central Kansas, as a 994 millibar surface low pressure system organized near the Colorado-Kansas border. Aloft, a powerful, negatively tilted upper level trough centered across the Central and Northern Rockies gradually ejected northeast toward the Northern Plains, allowing considerable large scale forcing and increasing wind fields to overspread northern Kansas, including 60-70 knot southwesterly flow at 500 millibars. Lower in the atmosphere, southerly low-level jet winds at 850 millibars increased to around 60 knots. At the surface, a pronounced cold front sliced through the area, providing sharp linear forcing for development of the squall line. Mesoscale severe weather parameters at mid-evening included mixed layer CAPE values around 2500 J/kg, and deep-layer vertical wind shear of at least 40-60 knots. As the evening wore on, 0-1 kilometer low-level bulk shear ramped up to notably strong values of 40-50 knots, providing a very favorable environment for damaging winds.

Following a five day break from active weather, the early to mid-evening hours on this Sunday featured a few, fairly isolated severe thunderstorms across portions of North Central Kansas, mainly affecting Mitchell, Osborne and Jewell Counties. The main impact from these storms was large hail from 1 to 2 inches in diameter, with the largest stones reported by storm chasers in the Tipton and Cawker City areas. While damaging wind reports were limited, several awnings were blown off campers at Glen Elder State Park. The initial and primary strong to severe storm development took place across southern and eastern Osborne County shortly after 6 PM CDT and drifted northeast, while other, less organized storms eventually developed across other portions of the six-county area, with nearly all activity weakening or moving north out of the state by 9 PM CDT. ||In the low levels, severe storm development was focused near, and just south of a rather well-defined, northward-lifting warm front, and also just northeast of a dryline bulging into central Kansas from the west. Aloft, broad southwesterly flow dominated the Central Plains, to the east of a powerful, closed mid-level low pressure system centered over the Intermountain West. At mid-afternoon, the surface warm front stretched from west-east along a line from far northwest Kansas to southeast Nebraska, separating an expansive area of low clouds to the north across Nebraska, from considerable sunshine and destabilization to the south in Kansas. By late afternoon, the mesoscale environment across eastern portions of North Central Kansas was quite supportive of supercell development, given mixed-layer CAPE values of at least 3000-4000 J/kg, along with at least 40 knots of deep-layer vertical wind shear. The combination of somewhat high cloud bases along with various storm-scale mergers likely mitigated what could have been a tornadic threat.

Continuing an active few days of strong to severe thunderstorms and localized flooding, this Saturday afternoon and early evening featured essentially just one isolated severe thunderstorm across portions of North Central Kansas. Large hail was the main story, with hail from quarter to golf ball size reported along a corridor from southeast Phillips County, to northwest Mitchell County. The largest reported hail stones of golf ball size fell near Portis. ||Aloft, the primary instigator for severe storm development was a lobe of mid-level energy swinging across the Central Plains along the southern periphery of a powerful, closed mid-level low pressure system centered over western South Dakota. At the surface, a rather subtle, north-south oriented trough axis pushed into North Central Kansas during the afternoon, serving as the low-level focus. The mesoscale environment in far North Central Kansas during this time featured around 2000 J/kg mixed-layer CAPE, and roughly 30 knots of deep-layer wind shear.

Although the bulk of severe weather focused to the north across South Central Nebraska on this Wednesday afternoon, parts of North Central Kansas got in on some of the early action, mainly during the noon hour. This occurred as a nearly solid line of strong to severe thunderstorms oriented in a west-northwest to east-southeast fashion lifted north across the area, with the greatest impacts across Mitchell and Jewell Counties. Reports from these counties included estimated wind gusts to 60 MPH and hail up to quarter size. This line of storms first entered the area late in the morning, gradually gaining strength as it moved north out of southwest and central Kansas. ||The primary driving force for severe weather was a powerful, negatively tilted mid and upper level low pressure system centered over Colorado. At the surface, a fairly well-defined quasi-stationary front extended across the region from southeast Colorado to east-central Nebraska, with a few areas of low pressure along it. This surface front marked a sharp division in instability, with mid-day mixed-layer CAPE values across eastern portions of North Central Kansas into the 1500-2000 J/kg range. Deep layer vertical wind shear on the order of 30-40 knots was also present, making the environment conducive to severe storm development.

This Thursday afternoon featured the only severe thunderstorms of the month across portions of North Central Kansas, with reports of hail from penny to half dollar size across several counties. These thunderstorms served as the opening volley to a very active few days of weather, as a classic, powerful, nearly vertically stacked low pressure system organized across western Kansas during the day. By early afternoon, a 998 millibar surface low was centered across south central Kansas, with a warm front extending from west to east across North Central Kansas. In the vicinity of this strengthening warm front, the mesoscale environment featured 500-1000 J/kg MLCAPE, and around 40-50 knots of deep layer vertical wind shear. In response to modest low level heating and destabilization within the northernmost reaches of the mid-level dry slot along with intense forcing from the mid-level low and considerable upper-level jet stream divergence, numerous strong to severe thunderstorms erupted by mid-afternoon, affecting much of the area for around 3 hours before sliding off to the north and east. Hail was the primary severe weather threat with these storms, with the largest reported hail of half dollar size occurring in Jewell and Smith Counties. Hail reportedly covered the ground in a few locations, including near Esbon and Athol. On a positive note, these storms brought parts of North Central Kansas some much-needed rainfall between 1-2 inches, with one of the highest reported amounts of 1.89 inches at Lebanon in Smith County.

After a remarkably snow-free start to winter, the last day of 2010 finally brought the first widespread accumulations of the season to North Central Kansas, as a powerful upper level low pressure system tracked along a path from northeast Colorado to southeast South Dakota. The main event impacted the area during the pre-dawn and daytime hours on Friday, New Year's Eve, with accumulating snow ending in most places by early afternoon. Storm total snowfall across most of North Central Kansas was fairly uniform, with most spots only tallying between 1-3 inches. Due to the fact that the main part of the storm tracked west-northwest of the area, the heaviest snow, strongest winds, and worst visibilities focused across northern and western Nebraska into the Dakotas, where blizzard conditions were reported.

A surface warm front helped to provide a focus for thunderstorm development as an upper level shortwave trough moved out of the Rocky Mountains and across the Northern and Central Plains. These thunderstorms developed during the mid evening hours, and continued into the early morning hours of May 7th as a strong low level jet nosed into the region. With instability as high as 1500 J/kg and more than sufficient shear present, many storms became strong to severe. Hail up to the size of golf balls was reported, along with wind gusts near 70 mph, which did some damage across Jewell County. Along with scattered tree damage, a steel door was blown from a building and a small hog shed was destroyed near the town of Esbon. Approximately 20 power poles were reported to be damaged across Jewell County, along with an empty grain bin.

Another weak upper level wave moving through the region brought additional thunderstorms to portions of the Plains. Thunderstorms developed across North Central Kansas during the afternoon hours, with one becoming severe in Mitchell County. Along with nickel size hail, wind gusts of 60 mph were reported, causing some tree damage and a few power outages in Beloit.

Severe thunderstorms developed during the evening hours across north-central Kansas and produced large hail, strong winds and heavy rains. Hail up to the size of softballs was reported west of Stockton where windows were broken, roofs and siding damaged and crops pummeled. A couple of brief tornados were reported to have touched down in Rooks County. One was south of Stockton and the other was near Woodston. No damage occurred with these. There were other reports of hail, mainly up to the size of golf balls, and wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph reported across the area. A tornado touched down north of Beloit in Mitchell County and traveled east. Several houses, outbuildings, grain bins, trees and power poles were damaged along the it���s path. This tornado crossed into Cloud County.

Thousands of Kansans were left without power after ice and snow hammered north central Kansas. Ice accumulations over one half inch were reported and resulted in widespread tree damage and subsequent damage to power lines and power poles. Approximately 1500 customers were without power in Jewell, Mitchell, Osborne and Smith counties at one time. Schools and businesses were closed and travel was treacherous. One to three inches of snow topped the ice accumulations. Throughout all of Kansas, about 10,000 power poles were lost and 50,000 power outages were reported during the storm.

Light freezing drizzle and freezing rain coating roads, sidewalks, trees and power lines with thin coating of ice early in the day. Travel was hazardous across the area. Temperatures warmed above freezing shortly after sunrise and quickly melted the ice.

Severe thunderstorms rolled over parts of north central Kansas. The stronger storms produced winds estimated to be 65 mph. A carport and other outbuildings were destroyed in eastern Phillips County. In Mitchell County, there was considerable tree damage in Beloit and some folks were without power for a time.

Severe thunderstorms hit Mitchell County a couple of times on the night of June 29. The first round pounded the Simpson area with 80 mph winds. Large trees were toppled throughout town. Metal sheds were also reported to have been damaged or destroyed in town along with numerous power poles snapped. Later that evening, shortly before midnight, a tornado was spotted in southern Mitchell County. The tornado had a short one mile path, but caused considerable tree damage, damaged a wind mill and three metal sheds. Golf ball size hail was also reported in the county.

Very severe thunderstorm pummeled north-central Kansas all afternoon and evening of July 7th. This was the second major severe thunderstorm event of the week.Two tornadoes were reported with the thunderstorms. One was reported near Scottsville in Mitchell county and the other between Palco and Damar in Rooks county. No damage was reported in either instance.The worst damage occurred with the passage of afternoon thunderstorms in the Beloit area. An 89 mph wind gust was recorded at the local radio station. A portion of the roof at the Super 8 motel was ripped away. The North Central Kansas Technical College sustained damage to several buildings. A couple of dozen homes in the Beloit and the surrounding area sustained at least some damage. Before the storm reached Beloit, it was responsible for a swath of wind driven hail near Burr Oak. Trees were stripped clean of leaves by the hail and wind north of town. Windows were blown out of the north and west sides of one farm house. Fortunately the wheat crop had been cut already. Extremely heavy rains resulted in runoff which covered Kansas Highway 128 for a time.Softball size hail was reported in Woodston in Rooks county and at Kirwin in Phillips county. Heavy rains and the resultant runoff in eastern Rooks county caused flash flooding along and near Paradise Creek. Several rural roads were washed out and water was flowing over Kansas Highway 18 for a time. Power poles were snapped at several locations in Rooks county and there were numerous large trees damaged.

Mother Nature provided her own fireworks on this Independence Day as severe thunderstorms lashed out across north-central Kansas. Rooks and Phillips counties were hardest hit. In Rooks county, three people were injured when their camper was toppled and rolled by the wind at Webster State Park. The injuries were minor, even though the camper rolled almost three times. Another camper was damaged, but that camper was unoccupied at the time. 25 to 50 power poles were snapped across Rooks county. Several buildings in the southern part of the county sustained at least minor damage. In Phillipsburg, an airplane at the airport was flipped and damaged and numerous large trees were uprooted. In Smith Center, a large window was blown out of a building on South Main Street. There were numerous limbs down around that time. Once the storm reached Jewell and Mitchell counties, a 68 mph wind gust was recorded near Webber and a 76 mph wind gust at Beloit. Power was out for a time in Beloit. Several large trees were toppled and there were several instances of minor damage throughout the town.

Severe thunderstorms rolled over parts of north-central Kansas on May 29. Initially the severe thunderstorms were in the Beloit area, and a tornado was reported by an off-duty NWS employee southwest of Beloit. Large hail was reported and caused crop damage in the area. Later, thunderstorms pushed into the Phillipsburg area and caused minor damage to a shed, power lines and rolled a semi-tractor trailer.

A rapidly deepening low pressure resulted in widespread winds of 40 to 60 mph across all of north central Kansas. Damage was sporadic over the region with of tree damage and wind power line damage. The wind also kicked up dirt from freshly plowed fields. As a result, visibilities were down to 2 to 3 miles at times.

Thunderstorms moved through southern Jewell and eastern Mitchell counties of north-central Kansas during the late afternoon hours. These storms brought strong winds and some small hail to this area. Winds over 60 mph caused damage in Jewell Kansas where some power lines were downed and trees uprooted. The scoreboard at the football field was severely damaged. Some dime size hail was also reported to accompany the strong winds. Some tree limbs were also downed east of Beloit as the storms passed in that area.

Thunderstorms exited southern Nebraska and spread south across northern Kansas. Most storms produced winds around 60 mph and hail up to the size of golf balls. One storm packed winds in excess of 80 mph around the Portis and Harlan areas. The winds blew over 70 empty train cars and caused extensive crop damage. A passenger in a truck traveling along U.S. Highway 281 was struck by a piece of wood that flew into the window. The man was transported to a local hospital then airlifted to a Wichita hospital for additional treatment. Many areas, especially in Smith and Jewell counties, reported crops as a total loss. The damage in Jewell county was described as being destroyed to "table top" status. Tree limbs, power poles and farm outbuildings were damaged in many locations in the region. Some buildings in Smith Center and Downs sustained damage and windows were broken in Phillipsburg.

A strong, dry westerly wind near 40 mph gusted to 60 mph during the early afternoon hours across north-central Kansas. Power poles were snapped in parts of Rooks county causing sporadic power loss. Minor roof damage was noted near Cawker City.

Strong thunderstorms just north of a warm front moved into north-central Kansas. Despite the late hour of the day, cooler temperatures and foggy conditions, these thunderstorms began to rotate and produced several tornadoes across the area. The first tornado developed in southwest Rooks county near Palco and lifted just south of Webster Lake. One farmstead was hit with damage sustained to outbuildings, trees and farm equipment. The next twister entered Rooks county from Ellis county south of Plainville. This tornado hit a farmstead on the south side of Plainville and traveled northeast through the cemetery and then on to rural areas of eastern Rooks county. The farmstead sustained damage to outbuildings and trees. The home was spared from major damage. Another weak tornado started on the south side of Plainville and traveled up US highway 183 and then northeast to a modular home manufacturing plant. Several homes in production were damaged. Other homes along the path had roof or window damage. Three other tornadoes occurred in Osborne county. The first, on the west side of the county, damaged outbuildings and trees along its 9 mile path. A short lived tornado near the junction of US highway 24 and Kansas Highway 181 hit an abandoned gas station. Old tanks and concrete blocks were littered about for nearly a mile to the northeast. The last tornado in the county started southwest of Downs and traveled northeast. It hit one farmstead on the west side of Downs causing damage to various outbuildings and farm machinery. This twister continued northeast and entered extreme southeast Smith county and then into southwest Jewell county. Before lifting, the tornado hit the parsonage of the Dispatch church, causing roof and wall damage to the home. Other weak tornadoes were noted in Smith and Jewell counties with minor damage noted to power poles and trees. Some other reports indicated that some hail and strong winds accompanied these storms.

The second of three quick moving but powerful winter storms pounded north-central Kansas with high winds, dangerous cold and blizzard-like conditions. The storm struck around sunrise. Though actual snowfall was light, fresh snow already on the ground was more than enough for the high winds, which developed, to create hazardous conditions. Visibilities dropped to near zero in white-out conditions during the morning as wind gusts to 45 mph were recorded. Significant blowing and drifting snow made travel difficult in some areas.Though the sky cleared during the day, the wind continued to howl to 40 mph and temperatures dropped to around 10 degrees by midday. The combination of wind and cold produced dangerously cold wind chills to 35 below zero. Many area events scheduled for the evening of the 16th were canceled due to the combination of wind, extreme cold and problems from blowing snow.