Power Outage in Mankato, KS

Wind gusts were estimated to be near 60 MPH. One power pole caught on fire due to arcing power lines.

Wind gusts estimated to be near 70 MPH resulted in tree limbs being downed in Mankato and a power pole being snapped near Montrose. In the Lovewell State Park area, a roof of an old radio communications building was torn off and nearby crops were damaged.

Wind gusts estimated to be near 70 MPH resulted in tree limbs being downed in Mankato and a power pole being snapped near Montrose. In the Lovewell State Park area, a roof of an old radio communications building was torn off and nearby crops were damaged.

Wind gusts were estimated to at least 60 mph. A few power poles were knocked down along this path.

This tornado affected two counties in north central Kansas, touching down north of Lebanon in Smith County and lifting north of Esbon in Jewell County. The maximum wind speed was estimated to be near 140 MPH, with a maximum path width of 1580 yards. Along its path, this tornado caused minor to major tree damage, overturned irrigation pivots, snapped power poles and damaged or destroyed grain bins and outbuildings. Four homesteads suffered damage, with the hardest hit locations approximately 3 miles northeast of Lebanon in Smith County. Two homes in this area were heavily damaged or destroyed, with one losing its entire second level. This location also completely lost grain bins, a large outbuilding and newly constructed garage. One person suffered minor injuries and was treated and released from an area hospital.

Approximately 20 power poles were reported to have been damaged across the area, along with an empty grain bin.

Although most all impacts from light wintry precipitation (mainly freezing drizzle and resultant power outages) focused slightly north of the state line in southern Nebraska, this was nonetheless a crummy Easter Sunday weather-wise in North Central Kansas. The entire area endured relentless north winds and impressively-cold temperatures by mid-April standards, with gusts commonly 40-50+ MPH and daytime highs only in the mid-upper 30s F (roughly 30 degrees below normal), promoting wind chill values only in the teens to low 20s F. While peak gusts at most local weather stations topped out slightly below severe-criteria, one personal weather station in far northeastern Jewell County clocked a 62 MPH gust during the afternoon. Fortunately, wintry precipitation was extremely-minimal across this area, consisting of no more than a dusting of snow and periods of (mostly non-freezing) drizzle. ||As for the meteorological background behind this unpleasant Easter, the main player in the mid-upper levels was a large-scale trough traversing the central CONUS, highlighted by broad low pressure and various embedded disturbances extending southward from southern Canada, and also a potent southern stream shortwave trough ejecting east-northeast across Texas. Given that North Central Kansas resided slightly south of the main northern stream disturbance, mid-level saturation lacked appreciably, keeping all but very light precipitation at bay. At the surface, a powerful cold front blasted through the local area during the pre-dawn hours of the 12th, turning the pleasant temperatures in the 70s to low 80s F on the 11th into a fleeting memory. The intense north winds were driven by a stout pressure gradient between a roughly 997 millibar low tracking east across the Southern Plains and a 1032 millibar high emanating southeastward from the Northern Rockies.

Thunderstorm-induced winds during the evening hours downed power poles and snapped tree limbs and branches in eastern Jewell county.