Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2026

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 36, NWS Wichita, KS

April 3, 2026Chautauqua County, Elk County, Montgomery County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 3, 2026, 6:56 PM CDT for Chautauqua County, Elk County, Montgomery County, Kansas. It was in force for 49 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 3, 2026, 6:56 PM CDT (23:56 UTC)
Expired: Apr 3, 2026, 7:45 PM CDT
In force: 49 min
Issued by: NWS Wichita, KS
Area: Storm-based polygon
Hail: 1.0 in
Wind: 60.0 mph

Counties Chautauqua County, KS, Elk County, KS, Montgomery County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 128 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:56 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 3, 2:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 197 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 22 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -402 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 515 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 601 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 659 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 4.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 3, 6:55 PM CDT, 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 3, 6:55 PM CDT, 1 minute before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 3, 4:41 PM CDT, 2 hours 15 minutes before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 3, 2:53 PM CDT, 4 hours 3 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Wichita KS
253 PM CDT Fri Apr 3 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0251 PM     Hail             3 NE Mcconnell Air Forc 37.65N 97.24W
04/03/2026  E0.75 Inch       Sedgwick           KS   Public

            Report from mPING: Dime (0.75 in.).

&&

Local storm report, Apr 3, 3:08 PM CDT, 3 hours 48 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Wichita KS
308 PM CDT Fri Apr 3 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0301 PM     Hail             3 W Andover             37.67N 97.20W
04/03/2026  E1.00 Inch       Sedgwick           KS   Public

            Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.).

&&

Local storm report, Apr 3, 3:12 PM CDT, 3 hours 44 minutes before

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The office that day

Everything else NWS Wichita, KS issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 2, 8:59 PM CDT	River Flood Warning	ICT	Cherokee, Labette	24 hr
Apr 3, 3:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Butler	50 min
Apr 3, 4:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Butler, Greenwood	43 min
Apr 3, 4:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Cowley	46 min
Apr 3, 5:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Chautauqua, Cowley, Elk	40 min
Apr 3, 5:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Elk, Greenwood	48 min
Apr 3, 6:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Chautauqua, Elk	51 min
Apr 3, 6:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Elk, Greenwood, Wilson, Woodson	38 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 2026 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2026

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.