Power Outage in Colby, KS

The tornado that formed in northern Logan County, confirmed by an emergency management damage report of a power pole down and tornadic debris signature detected on NWS Goodland WSR 88D, continued into extreme southern Thomas County. No damage was reported in this very rural area. Times estimated by radar. This tornado was a Quasi-Linear Convective System (QLCS) tornado.

Two rounds of high winds occurred across Thomas County. Mesonet stations across the county recorded wind gusts of 58-81 mph, with the strongest recorded gust located in Colby, Kansas. Numerous power poles and lines were reported down across the county. The town of Rexford lost power due to the high winds. On I-70 near Levant, a semi truck was blown over due to high winds at mile marker 43. In Colby, numerous trees had various sized limbs down or were uprooted and a pivot irrigation system was knocked over. There were also reports of shingles blown off roofs and two windows broken on a vehicle parked in a strip mall parking lot. The wind gusts capable of this degree of damage were estimated to be up to 110 mph.

Image received via social media of powerlines landing on the front of a truck hauling a race car trailer near the intersection of Hwy 83 and KS Hwy 24. The front of the trailer was crumbled due to the damage from the power lines.

Multiple power outages reported in the city of Colby with one utility pole down.

West to West-southwesterly winds up to 6 mph combined with cold temperatures as cold as 6 below produced wind chills as low as 21 degrees below zero across Thomas County. The coldest wind chills were observed near Colby, Kansas. Impacts: power outages.

A member of the public reported a broken tree limb caused a downed power line in Colby, KS. Time estimated by radar and reports of 60+ mph wind gusts at the airport 2 miles north of the damage location.

All of Colby was reportedly without power due to thunderstorm wind damage and power lines were down.

A member of the public reported thunderstorm wind damage on the west side of Colby in the form of downed power lines.

Local emergency management reported that severe wind gusts from a thunderstorm led to most of Colby losing power due to downed power lines. In addition, several large tree limbs were reportedly down due to thunderstorm wind gusts by local law enforcement. A large metal sign was downed in Colby which damaged cars in an adjacent parking lot.

Several power poles were damaged from the thunderstorm winds, causing all of Colby to not have power. Power lines were blown down at the K-State research extension grounds causing a small fire. However the rain put the fire out before any damage was done. A window was broken at Orschlens.

Power lines blown down along with large tree limbs on the northeast side of Colby.

Visibility of less than 75 feet was reported in Colby. A peak wind gust of 64 MPH was reported 2 ENE of Colby at 426 AM CST. The very strong winds and heavy, wet snow split a tree in half in the center of Colby. The largest limb that broke was eight inches in diameter. A warming center was opened overnight with occupants then moved to hotels afterwards aided by the Red Cross. Power outages were reported in Colby, Rexford, and Brewster. The day after the storm Colby had power again. The National Guard in Thomas County had two of their four hummers stuck in the snow, causing them to restrict their rescue to stranded motorists who had medical problems. A federal disaster was declared by President Donald J. Trump.

Numerous power poles and power lines were blown down around town. Several trees were uprooted with numerous limbs down. A glass window was blown in at a car dealership and minor sign damage occurred at other businesses. A few shingles were removed from the courthouse roof.

Trees were blown down in town, some power lines were down and a couple businesses in town had windows broken.

Road 30 between Road B and C in southern Thomas County was washed out, including a bridge over the Saline River. The local utility company stated that $30,000 worth of damage occurred to power poles in the vicinity. Several nearby homes also suffered flood damage.

Several trees and large limbs were blown down in Brewster and Colby resulting in downed power lines in Colby and a downed pole in Brewster. A downed power line caused a large grass fire to ignite which took several hours to bring under control.

Time estimated based on newspaper report of other power outages in town. Owner not home at the time, but returned to find the electric meter on the home destroyed. A circuit breaker box was burned and hanging from the wall. The strike damaged the underground sprinkler system and destroyed a tree in the yard, which was estimated to have taken the direct lightning strike. The home's entire electrical system was damaged and a television damaged.

Thirteen power poles down 7 miles north of highway 25/24 intersection. Six power poles down 8 miles north and 1 mile west of highway 25/24 intersection.

Three power poles snapped.

Metal roofs ripped from buildings and several power poles were broken 5 miles east of Colby.

Six-inch diameter tree branches broken off, a tree fell on a car and power outages in town of Colby.

Straight line winds directly impacted the Colby area. These winds damaged trusses from a manufacturing plant north of Colby. A storage building and log cabin were completely destroyed at the plant by the high winds. Also, numerous homes and business sustained wind damage, such as shingles blown off roofs, windows knocked out, and siding torn off houses. The strong winds blew large tree limbs onto power lines, causing power outages throughout the area.

In the latter half of the morning on December 2nd, strong, dry southwesterly winds began picking up dirt and dust in Eastern Colorado and Western Kansas. This led to areas of reduced visibility due to the blowing dust across Eastern Colorado, Western Kansas, and extreme Southwest Nebraska. A strong cold front entered Northwest Kansas around 11 AM and quickly moved southeast. Before this cold front moved in, it was already collecting dust along its leading edge, forming a wall of dust resembling a haboob. ||As this cold front swept through the area, it gathered more dust and grew in severity and longevity. Many photos and videos showing a wall of dust a few hundred feet high were sent to the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Goodland, Kansas. When the wall of dust moved over an area, visibility would drop to near or less than 0.25 mile with wind gusts near and exceeding 70 mile per hour. Strong northwesterly winds and 0.25-mile visibility behind the initial wall of dust would continue for an hour or longer before subsiding. ||Two multi-vehicle accidents were reported, indirectly caused by this dust storm. The first accident was occurred on I-70 near mile marker 77. This accident caused lane blockage on I-70 and some traffic was diverted, however the interstate never fully shutdown. No injuries or fatalities were reported from this accident. The other accident occurred on US Highway 24, west of Hoxie, Kansas. This accident accounted for the sole fatality of this storm event. A wildfire that burned nearly 2250 acres was also reported in Wallace County just before the dust storm swept through the area. This fire was caused by a power line that was blown over into a grass field. The highest recorded wind gust of the day was in Sharon Springs, Kansas at 75 miles per hour.

During the morning to mid-afternoon hours, an intense low pressure system moved away from the Colorado Front Range and across the Central High Plains. This system was responsible for generating two rounds of high winds in Northwest Kansas. The high winds gusted between 58 to 120 mph over a period of approximately 6.5 hours, creating high wind damage across majority of Northwest Kansas. ||The two rounds of high winds were able to generate dust storms; one ahead of the cold front, and another round as the cold front moved east-northeast across South-Central Colorado into Northwest Kansas. The high winds and blowing dust created hazardous travel conditions across the Central High Plains, prompting a several hour closure of I-70 from the Colorado state line to Salina, Kansas and numerous state highways in Western Kansas. Numerous accidents were reported on roadways across the area prior to the closures due to reduced visibility and/or blow overs due to the winds. The high winds were also able to spark several fires across Northwest Kansas causing damages to three homes, several vehicles, power poles, outbuildings, fences, and fields while also causing one fatality. As the front moved into Central Kansas, showers and a few thunderstorms developed along the front producing penny sized hail in Sheridan County.

Scattered storms developed along a boundary from Greeley County to Cheyenne County, Kansas. This line of storms moved north-northeast across Northwest Kansas producing up to quarter sized hail and up to 80 mph wind gusts with damage to a powerline in Sherman County.

During the evening hours, a large line of storms moved east from the Colorado Front Range across extreme Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas. The line of storms produced a swath of damaging winds mainly along and north of I-70 with gusts up to 100 mph. Damage to trees and power lines was noted across much of the area, with the most notable damage occurring to a crop duster airplane and the hanger for the plane in Hoxie.

Arctic air moved into the High Plains following a winter weather system that brought up to 9.5 inches of snow to northwest Kansas over a span of three days. West-southwesterly to northwesterly winds sustained up to 8 mph caused wind chills as low as 22 degrees below zero to occur during the early morning hours. The cold temperatures caused sporadic power outages across northwest Kansas.

A strong southeastward cold front produced high wind gusts ranging from 27 to 81 mph. These high winds lasted for various durations of time, ranging from six minutes to one hour and fifty minutes after frontal passage. The high winds produced blowing dust with visibilities reduced to between one mile to as low as 10 yards at times across northwest Kansas. The strong winds knocked a few power lines down in Graham County which sparked a few small fires around the county and were quickly put out. The strong winds also caused a manure fire in southern Logan County to get out of hand; however, it was contained without causing damage. The most notable fire caused with this event was a grass fire caused from the embers of a burning trash fire in Graham County, which caused town-wide evacuations of Nicodemus. No injuries or structural damage occurred.

Supercell thunderstorms formed over the Colorado High Plains increasing in coverage to form a line and intensified as they moved east into Kansas and Nebraska. In Kansas, the storms produced up to ping pong ball sized hail, up to 93 mph wind gusts, and up to 1.5 inches of rain. During the event, several power poles were reported down in Cheyenne, Logan, Thomas, and Graham counties. Five oil tank batteries in Graham County and a central pivot irrigation system in Thomas County were also damaged.

Unseasonably strong winds occurred for a third straight day. The majority of the high winds occurred along the Colorado/Kansas border, with more sporadic damage and/or high wind gusts to the east. Noteworthy damage reports include three inch diameter tree limbs being blown down in St. Francis which may have also caused power poles to be broken, the high winds pushing two semis together on I-70 near Kanorado, and a truck being flipped that was towing a trailer near Lenora.

A light freezing rain event on December 27th, combined with some gusty winds on December 28th, led to power outages and road closures for parts of northwest Kansas on the evening of the 28th.

A powerful winter storm system moved across Northwest Kansas during the afternoon from west to east. Not long after the snow starting the high winds developed, causing the visibility to be near zero at times. Two waves of snow moved through, the first lasted into the early evening. The second wave mostly remained in East Central Colorado, but did extend into Northwest Kansas during the early evening as it weakened. After the snow had ended the high winds continued into the following day. The peak wind gust was 85 MPH measured at Weskan.

Early in the afternoon scattered thunderstorms developed north of a warm front. Penny size hail was reported from one of these storms. During the latter half of the afternoon a thunderstorm complex moved east out of Colorado into Northwest Kansas. The complex continued to increase in coverage as it moved eastward, transitioning into more of a wind threat than a hail threat. Winds from the thunderstorm complex blew trees down, some of them being large trees, blew power lines down, and damaged a grain bin. There were very few hail reports with this thunderstorm complex, with the largest being only penny size from several locations.

During the afternoon storm activity from East Central Colorado spread into Northwest Kansas. The storm intensity increased as the storms moved into Kansas, but turned into more of a wind threat than a hail threat. The peak wind gust reported was 77 MPH measured at the Bird City airport. The thunderstorms winds blew down power lines north of Blakeman in Rawlins County, and were responsible for blowing dust at a couple locations. The largest hail size reported was nickel near Weskan.

The largest severe weather outbreak of the year began in the morning. The storms activity spread west across Northwest Kansas, eventually expanding into Southwest Nebraska and East Central Colorado. The first tornado of the day for Northwest Kansas occurred near Hill City. No damage was reported from the tornado. The largest hail size reported was golf ball size from multiple locations area. Some of the thunderstorms did produce damaging wind gusts, which blew down power lines, large trees, and damaged farm buildings. Flash Flooding occurred over Graham and Gove counties where prolonged moderate to heavy rain that began in the morning, lasted into the late evening. The flash flooding caused some culverts along Highway 24 to be washed out. The flooding was so significant water rescues were performed at a trailer park on the south side of Hill City, and 20 cattle drowned east of Bogue. By the end of the day parts of Graham County had up to a foot of rainfall.

A strong cold front brought high winds, blowing dust, and a wildfire to Northwest Kansas. The high winds led to some wind damage across the area. In addition, the winds caused widespread blowing dust with zero visibility, which resulted in at least 2 accidents on area roadways. Finally, as the winds brought down power lines in Weskan, a wildfire began and rapidly spread. The fire was so large that fire departments from neighboring counties were asked to respond.

Late morning through mid afternoon a couple intense thunderstorms moved southeast ahead of a cold front. The longest lived storm produced a path of wind damage, with estimated wind speeds up to 120 MPH, which destroyed grain bins and outbuildings, and snapped power poles and trees from Thomas to Sheridan and into Gove counties. This same storm also produced wind driven hail up to softball size near St. Peter. The torrential rainfall at Rexford caused a semi to tip over on Highway 83 after the storm had passed through.

During the evening the line of outflow winds ahead of severe thunderstorms in Southwest Nebraska moved into Northwest Kansas. The strongest reported wind gust was an estimated 70 MPH wind gust in northwest Sherman County, and a measured 70 MPH wind gust in Selden. The thunderstorm wind gusts also caused damage, with Atwood reporting trees, large limbs, and power lines being blown down. Selden also reported large tree limbs being blown down, some up to four inches in diameter.

During the night moderate to heavy snowfall moved north over Northwest Kansas. Locations in Greeley, Logan, Wallace, and Wichita counties had more than 8 inches of snow before the blizzard began on the morning of the 30th. During the overnight and early morning hours of the 30th north winds increased as a broad area of heavier snowfall moved up from the southeast. The strongest wind gusts occurred during the overnight and first few hours of the morning on the 30th. Some of these gusts blew down tree branches up to 9 inches in diameter. The highest wind gust reported was 64 MPH near Colby.||The widespread blizzard conditions moved northwest through the day, but only extended as far west as Highway 27. At the height of the storm blizzard conditions extended to roughly 110 miles wide across Northwest Kansas. The combined effect of wind gusts of 45-64 MPH along with the heavy, wet snow broke thousands of east-west running power poles. Some residents did not receive power until almost a week after the blizzard. Conditions were so inhospitable some counties stopped trying to clear roads until the storm ended. The National Guard in Thomas County had trouble rescuing stranded motorists due to two of their four vehicles being stuck in the snow because of the extreme driving conditions. Nearly all roads were closed due to zero visibility or drifts across the road. Snowfall amounts up to almost 30 inches were reported, with some locations receiving as much as three inches of snow per hour. Within the broad band of heavy snow thundersnow was also reported. Due to the very warm ground temperatures the snow melted quickly, causing snowfall measurements to be difficult without considering the effects of blowing snow. If the ground temperatures had been colder, even higher snowfall amounts would have been reported. Despite the heavy, wet snow eight to ten foot drifts were reported. The heavy, wet snow caused the wheat to be flattened on the ground in many of the fields.||The corridor of blizzard conditions narrowed to the west through early afternoon then shifted back east. This caused counties along and east of Highway 83 to have anywhere from one to five hours of a lull before blizzard conditions returned from the west. The blizzard exited Northwest Kansas by midnight on the 30th.

During the overnight hours a line of severe thunderstorms moved east-southeast across Northwest Kansas. The largest hail stone reported was quarter size at Morland. The primary threat with these storms was straight-line winds. The highest gust was an estimated 100 MPH at Morland. The only reported damage from the straight-line winds were tree limbs blown down, a broken window and two power poles broken. The broken power poles caused Morland to lose power.

A line of strong to severe thunderstorms moved east through Northwest Kansas during the late afternoon and through the evening. Wind speeds around 60 MPH were reported along the leading edge of the line of storms. The winds caused St. Francis to lose power during the evening.

During the late afternoon and through the evening scattered strong to severe thunderstorms developed over Northwest Kansas ahead of an advancing line of intense straight-line winds from thunderstorms moving east out of Colorado. Large hail up to baseball size was reported ahead of the straight-line winds, with the largest hail occurring near Leoti. The wide spread straight-line winds caused the greatest impact to Northwest Kansas. A cloud of dust with near zero visibilities accompanied the leading edge of the straight-line winds. Kanorado sustained severe wind damage from the intense winds according to a trained spotter. A short section of I-70 was closed near mile marker 38 due to power lines being blown down onto the roadway. The highest wind gust report was 91 MPH measured near Goodland. Most of the wind reports ranged from 60 to 80 MPH.

During the afternoon, and into the evening, scattered strong to severe storms moved into Northwest Kansas from the south. These storms were on the warmer half of a strong winter storm system that would bring blizzard conditions to Northwest Kansas the next day. Six separate tornadoes were reported over Northwest Kansas, the most tornadoes reported for the month of November. The tornadoes were reported over Gove, Sheridan and Norton counties. The longest tornado track was 17 miles, lasting over 30 minutes, as it traveled from Grainfield to near Tasco. In addition to the tornadoes, large hail up to golf ball size was reported near Tasco. Severe thunderstorm wind gusts up to 90 MPH were reported with some of the storms. The high winds caused near zero visibilities near Wheeler due to blowing dirt. Many power poles were destroyed by either tornado or high winds, leaving many people without power. In Hill City the roof was blown off the power plant, causing the town to lose power.

During the late afternoon severe thunderstorms began to move into Northwest Kansas from East Central Colorado. Multiple severe thunderstorms also developed over the area, but the majority of the severe weather was caused by one storm which moved east across the area. Accompanying the storm were wind gusts of 60 to nearly 90 MPH and hail up to softball in size. The highest wind gusts reported was 89 MPH 4 N of Atwood, and the largest hail reported was softball at Goodland. As the evening progressed, the severe weather reports transitioned from large hail to severe winds and wind damage. Widespread power outages were reported from Cheyenne east to Norton county as well as Graham and Sheridan counties due to the hundreds of power poles broken off. Some communities did not receive power until the following evening. A state of emergency was declared for Cheyenne and Rawlins counties due to the wide spread power outage.

Showers and thunderstorms moved into Northwest Kansas during the evening hours. The outflow winds from the showers and thunderstorms were enhanced by the already strong winds above the surface, which lead to widespread reports of wind gusts of 60 to over 80 MPH across the area. Wind gusts of 70 MPH occurred at Gove, with 74 MPH gusts reported at Atwood and 7 SW of Sharon Springs. The peak gusts of 81 and 82 MPH were reported at Ludell and Colby respectively. The wind gusts peaked during the late evening into the overnight hours then gradually diminished from west to east through the rest of the night. The strong to severe wind gusts damaged structures and caused widespread power outages.

Strong winds behind a cold front moving southeast through eastern Colorado caused winds to gust over 70 MPH during the late morning and afternoon. The high winds blew dirt and sand, which reduced visibilities to a quarter mile at times and caused I-70 to be closed, knocked down power poles and trees, and took the roof off at least one home. Some of the higher gusts that were reported were 78 MPH at 12 SE of Sharon Springs, 77 MPH at Goodland, 70 MPH at Hoxie, 68 MPH at Weskan, 67 MPH at Bird City, 66 MPH 4 NW of Marienthal, and 64 MPH 4 N of Atwood.

An intense, slow-moving, winter-like storm moved across the Central High Plains on April 14-15. The storm produced a round of high winds with numerous gusts over 60 mph, in addition to wet, heavy snow. Blizzard conditions occurred in some areas with Interstate 70 and state highways closed. Many residents were without power for periods of time ranging from 12 to 48 hours.

An intense, slow-moving, winter-like storm moved across the Central High Plains on April 14-15. The storm produced a round of high winds with numerous gusts over 60 mph, in addition to wet, heavy snow. Blizzard conditions occurred in some areas with Interstate 70 closed from Wakeeney, Kansas to Limon Colorado. Numerous adjoining state highways were also closed. Many residents were without power for periods of time ranging from 12 to 48 hours.

An intense low pressure area developed over the Central Plains states. Northwest winds of 45 to 70 mph developed in the strong surface pressure gradient west of the low pressure system which affected eastern Colorado, western Kansas and southwest Nebraska. Several locations in northwest Kansas reported downed power lines and two vehicle rollovers were reported on Interstate 70 in Sherman county Kansas.

Severe thunderstorms developed over NW Kansas during the early evening hours. One long-lived supercell moved slowly east across Sheridan and Graham counties, producing baseball-sized hail and winds of 70-80 mph. Several grain bins were damaged or destroyed, hundreds of homes suffered broken windows on the north side of the dwellings, and minor power outages occurred.

A winter storm brought freezing rain which accumulated 3/4-inch of ice on trees and power lines. In some areas, 2-4 inches of snow also fell on top of the ice.

A slow-moving low pressure system produced significant snow and ice accumulations across eastern Colorado, southwest Nebraska and western Kansas. Snow totals of 6-12 inches were common along the Kansas-Colorado border, with 1/2-11/2 inch ice accumulations further east in the Norton and Hill City areas. This storm produced widespread power outages and brought down a communications tower in Norton county, as well as affecting many counties with heavy tree damage and loss of utility poles. Storm totals for each county include... Cheyenne: 6-9 snow, 1/4 ice. Rawlins: 3-5 snow, 1/2 ice. Decatur: 1 snow, 1 ice. Norton 1 snow, 1 ice. Sherman 5-10 snow, 1/4 ice. Thomas 3-5 snow, 1/2 ice. Sheridan: 4-6 snow, 3/4 ice. Graham: 2-4 snow, 1 ice. Wallace: 5 snow, 1/4 ice. Logan 2 snow, 1/2 ice. Gove: 2 snow, 1 ice. Greeley: 6 snow, 1/4 ice. Wichita: 3 snow, 1/2 ice. |Damage estimates are not yet available.

Damaging west and southwest winds developed as a strong Pacific cold front surged east across the western third of Kansas. Winds began in the late morning hours and continued through most of the afternoon. Wind gusts of 55 to 65 mph were common for a number of hours which resulted in sporadic reports of damage. The persistent winds also resulted in extremely poor visibility in blowing dirt, which forced the temporary closure of some roads in Thomas County, including US Highway 83. Numerous accidents were reported, including several semi trucks blown over. In Colby, a 30 ft by 50 ft gas station canopy was blown over, and numerous sign damage was reported at local restaurants and department stores. Power lines were downed in Wallace county with siding blown off a house. Many reports of shingle damage and tree limbs down were also received. In Rawlins county, a cottonwood tree fell, crushing a utility building and tractor.

A slow-moving storm system moved out of Colorado into central Kansas. Strong gradient winds on the back side of the storm produced a prolonged period of very low visibility and extreme wind. Snowfall amounts across northwest Kansas ranged from just under an inch in the Greeley and Leoti areas to six to seven inches near Norton, Oberlin and Hoxie. Peak wind gusts were measured at 77 mph in Sherman county west of Goodland, with widespread gusts of 55 to 65 mph reported. The combination of snowfall and prolonged strong winds resulted in whiteout conditions, five to ten-foot snow drifts and closure of all county roads for two days. Numerous power outages were also reported. Interstate-70 in Kansas was closed from the Colorado border east to Salina.

Freezing rain and drizzle developed Tuesday morning over NW Kansas from Greeley and Wichita counties northeast to Gove, Graham and Norton counties. Freezing rain turned to snow by late morning, with accumulations of 2-4 inches common across the area, with highest amounts near 5 inches along the Nebraska border in Norton and Decatur counties. A fatality occurred in Gove county Tuesday morning in a single car accident when the driver lost control on icy roads. A second fatality was reported when an elderly man died of exposure in Gove county in a single vehicle accident on his property when he became disoriented in poor visibility. Newspapers reported freezing rain broke tree limbs, resulting in power outages across parts of Norton county Tuesday afternoon and evening (Jan 4).

This major, widespread damaging wind event began during the afternoon as thunderstorms developed across eastern Colorado and moved into extreme NW Kansas and extreme SW Nebraska. The event transitioned from small hail events and individual thunderstorm downbursts producing minor damage to a large scale high-wind event sweeping rapidly east away from the parent thunderstorms. Widespread winds of 60 to 70 mph occurred with swaths of stronger winds reaching over 90 mph. Tree damage was extensive over a 10 county area with some trees 18 to 24 inches in diameter being snapped off above ground. Numerous reports were received of small buildings and sheds destroyed along with widespread roof damage. Power poles were also either pushed over or broken, resulting in areas of power outage for 1-2 hours. A huge cloud of dirt was raised as the strong outflow raced eastward, likely enhanced by several years of dry soils. Visibility was instantly reduced to near zero with law enforcement and rescue personnel stating it was difficult to see beyond the vehicle hood when driving. Two fatalities were reported on Interstate-70, including the death of a Kansas state senator, whose vehicle was struck from behind by a semi-trailer as he slowed down in reduced visibility. Other vehicular accidents also occurred on county highways resulting in minor property damage.

An intense low pressure area over the Northern Plains and a strong mid-level jetstream combined to produce a widespread high wind and blowing dirt event across eastern Colorado, western Kansas and parts of SW Nebraska. Wind gusts of 50 to 65 mph were common from late morning through the afternoon hours causing reduced visibility in blowing dirt. A 17 car pileup occurred on Interstate 70 at the Kansas-Colorado border resulting in numerous injuries and one fatality. Other areas suffered minor tree damage, downed power lines and zero visibility at times. Some notable peak wind reports include: 70 mph in Atwood, 62 mph near Goodland and 66 mph in Colby. Downed power lines resulted in a fire in Oberlin.

A heat burst occurred between 830 pm and 930 pm MDT across 4 counties in NW Kansas. As thunderstorms decayed across SW Kansas...strong southerly outflow developed, accompanied by a temperature rise of 15-18 degrees in 15 minutes, from the upper 70s to the lower 90s. Associated pressure drop and strong winds to 70 mph resulted in damage across the area. Two semi-trailers traveling on east-west roads were blown over by the strong southerly winds. Tree damage, power boles blown down and some structural damage occurred.

During the early afternoon hours on Monday, August 26th, thunderstorms developed rapidlyalong a thunderstorm outflow boundary in Dundy and Hitchcock counties in SW Nebraska. Thestorms quickly intensified to severe levels, with the first report of large hail occurring at 140 pmMDT in SE Dundy County. During the next 30 minutes, reports of softball-size hail (4"diameter), 87 mph winds and a tornado were received. For the next six hours, a small cluster ofthunderstorms approximately two counties wide continued to produce violent weather acrosswestern Kansas as the storms moved south at speeds ranging from 5 mph on the eastern extent ofthe cluster, to 50 mph on the western extent.The western edge of the thunderstorms stretched to the Kansas-Colorado border, where thestrongest straight-line wind reports were received. A 91 mph wind gust was reported at the BirdCity airport in Cheyenne County, KS at 311 pm MDT, and a 96 mph gust from the north wasmeasured by the public 4 miles east of Kanorado in Sherman County, KS at 450 pm MDT. Otherwind reports over 70 mph were received from Kit Carson and Cheyenne counties in easternColorado, and also in Wallace county, KS.Further east, much slower storm movement resulted in flash flooding across Rawlins, Thomasand Logan counties in Kansas. The city of Colby closed roads for a few hours which were madetemporarily impassible due to high water and debris. Minor wind damage was also reported inColby. Both forks of Beaver Creek rose rapidly in Rawlins county Monday evening whererainfall over 6 inches fell in a several hour period. Flood warnings were issued Monday eveningand were continued through Tuesday with flooding reported in many areas of Atwood.Some highlights across the region include:Kanorado, Kansas (SW Sherman County): Significant and widespread tree damage occurredthroughout town. A grain dryer broke loose from a grain elevator and toppled into an electricpole, which cut power to the town for three hours. Portions of roofs were removed from anabandoned school, and from a downtown business. Several people reported seeing a brief tornadoto the north of town as the storm approached, however, the damage pattern throughout townindicated a straight-line wind event in Kanorado. Sharon Springs, Kansas (Wallace County): Significant damage occurred to 3 hangars at theairport, and approximately 10 power poles were blown down one-half mile north of the airport.All debris was blown to the southwest, with structural damage occurring on the east andnortheast sides of the buildings indicating an intense straight-line wind event. In town, numerouswindows were broken on the north sides of buildings, and mostly minor tree damage was noted. Baseball-size hail (2.75" diameter) was reported several miles east of Sharon Springs.Wallace, Kansas (Wallace County): Fifteen railroad cars were blown over. The cars wereempty, with a posted weight of 31 tons each. Nearby, two large grain bins were heavily damagedand pushed over to the south. Widespread tree and limb damage occurred in town, and numerouswindows were broken.

A line of scattered thunderstorms developed on a slow-moving surface boundary which stretched from southwest Nebraska through northwest Kansas during the late afternoon and evening hours. Storm movement was generally under 10 mph, and therefore the direction of many resultant wind and tornado events were guided by thunderstorm outflows. Four F-0 tornadoes and three F-1 tornadoes developed during this storm event. Tornadoes generally traveled from the south, southeast or east at speeds of 10 to 15 mph. Most tornadoes occurred over open country with no damage, but several moved near farmsteads and damaged barns and outbuildings, irrigation equipment and power poles.

The combination of strong winds and one to three inches of snow created near blizzard like conditions across western Kansas on Saturday February 9th. Winds were sustained at 40 to 50 mph with gusts to near 70 mph, which reduced visibilities below one mile in areas of blowing snow and created three to four foot snow drifts. These winds were also accompanied by temperatures in the 20s, which created wind chill readings between 10 and 15 degrees below zero. Interstate 70 was closed, along with many other county roads across the region. Finally, the strong winds blew down 4 to 8 inch diameter tree limbs and power lines were reported down in Norton County.