Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2026

Tornado Watch 222

May 18, 202624 counties in Kansas; 7 counties in Nebraska

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 18, 2026, 12:50 PM CDT for 24 counties in Kansas; 7 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 18, 2026, 12:50 PM CDT (17:50 UTC)
Expired: May 18, 2026, 8:00 PM CDT
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center
Particularly dangerous situation: Yes
Largest hail expected: 3 in
Strongest gust expected: 60 kt

All 31 counties

Barton County, KS, Brown County, KS, Clay County, KS, Cloud County, KS, Dickinson County, KS, Ellsworth County, KS, Geary County, KS, Jackson County, KS, Kingman County, KS, Lincoln County, KS, Marion County, KS, Marshall County, KS, McPherson County, KS, Mitchell County, KS, Morris County, KS, Nemaha County, KS, Ottawa County, KS, Pottawatomie County, KS, Reno County, KS, Republic County, KS, Rice County, KS, Riley County, KS, Saline County, KS, Washington County, KS, Gage County, NE, Jefferson County, NE, Johnson County, NE, Nemaha County, NE, Otoe County, NE, Pawnee County, NE, Richardson County, NE

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:53 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes: 80%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes: 80%
Ten or more severe wind reports: 70%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more: 10%
Ten or more severe hail reports: 70%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more: 70%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports: 95%

Warnings issued inside it

85 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 18, 1:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Cloud, Republic	67 min
May 18, 1:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	ICT	Ellsworth, Lincoln, Russell	42 min
May 18, 1:55 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Lincoln	40 min
May 18, 2:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Cloud, Republic, Washington	58 min
May 18, 2:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	TOP	Ottawa	55 min
May 18, 2:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage, Jefferson	52 min
May 18, 2:17 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Ottawa	43 min
May 18, 2:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Cloud, Republic, Washington	39 min
May 18, 2:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Gage, Jefferson	49 min
May 18, 2:28 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Washington	32 min
May 18, 2:50 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Cloud, Ottawa	40 min
May 18, 2:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	OAX	Gage, Jefferson, Johnson, Lancaster, Pawnee	66 min
May 18, 2:55 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Republic, Washington	38 min
May 18, 2:57 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	OAX	Gage, Jefferson	5 hr
May 18, 3:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observed	OAX	Gage	60 min
May 18, 3:07 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Gage, Jefferson	38 min
May 18, 3:08 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TOP	Washington	4 hr
May 18, 3:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Cloud, Ottawa	35 min
May 18, 3:22 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Clay, Cloud, Washington	21 min
May 18, 3:38 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Johnson, Pawnee	50 min
May 18, 3:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Clay, Cloud, Ottawa	35 min
May 18, 3:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Clay, Cloud, Washington	33 min
May 18, 3:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	OAX	Gage, Johnson, Nemaha, Otoe, Pawnee	51 min
May 18, 3:49 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	OAX	Gage, Johnson, Pawnee	4 hr
May 18, 4:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Nemaha	60 min
May 18, 4:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Washington	29 min
May 18, 4:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	OAX	Johnson, Nemaha, Otoe, Pawnee, Richardson	43 min
May 18, 4:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Clay, Cloud, Ottawa	56 min
May 18, 4:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Clay, Dickinson, Ottawa	35 min
May 18, 4:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Saline	33 min
May 18, 4:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Marshall, Nemaha	17 min
May 18, 4:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning Emergency	OAX	Pawnee	39 min
May 18, 4:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Republic	32 min
May 18, 4:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Saline	46 min
May 18, 4:30 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Clay, Marshall, Riley, Washington	45 min
May 18, 4:33 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Clay, Dickinson, Ottawa	42 min
May 18, 4:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	OAX	Nemaha, Otoe, Richardson	66 min
May 18, 4:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Pawnee, Richardson	64 min
May 18, 4:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Saline	31 min
May 18, 4:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage, Jefferson, Saline	46 min
May 18, 4:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observed	OAX	Richardson	53 min
May 18, 4:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Barton, Reno, Rice	46 min
May 18, 5:07 PM CDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observed	TOP	Marshall, Washington	53 min
May 18, 5:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Clay, Dickinson, Geary, Ottawa, Riley	49 min
May 18, 5:11 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Clay, Riley, Washington	12 min
May 18, 5:12 PM CDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observedConsiderable damage threat	OAX	Richardson	48 min
May 18, 5:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Saline	31 min
May 18, 5:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Clay, Geary, Riley	30 min
May 18, 5:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Gage, Pawnee	39 min
May 18, 5:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Reno	19 min
May 18, 5:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	ICT	McPherson, Reno, Rice	49 min
May 18, 5:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Clay, Pottawatomie, Riley	27 min
May 18, 5:51 PM CDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observed	TOP	Marshall, Nemaha	54 min
May 18, 5:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Clay, Dickinson, Geary, Morris, Riley	36 min
May 18, 5:57 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Nemaha, Pawnee, Richardson	18 min
May 18, 6:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Jefferson, Saline	48 min
May 18, 6:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage, Johnson, Otoe	20 min
May 18, 6:14 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Nemaha	20 min
May 18, 6:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Cass, Otoe	31 min
May 18, 6:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	TOP	Dickinson, Geary, Morris, Pottawatomie, Riley, Wabaunsee	24 min
May 18, 6:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	ICT	Harvey, Kingman, McPherson, Marion, Reno, Rice and 1 more	50 min
May 18, 6:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage, Lancaster	47 min
May 18, 6:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Nemaha	44 min
May 18, 6:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage, Jefferson	43 min
May 18, 6:32 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Nemaha, Richardson	20 min
May 18, 6:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	TOP	Geary, Jackson, Nemaha, Pottawatomie, Riley, Shawnee and 1 more	48 min
May 18, 6:48 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Richardson	42 min
May 18, 6:49 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Brown, Nemaha	26 min
May 18, 6:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Destructive damage threat	TOP	Jackson, Pottawatomie, Shawnee, Wabaunsee	23 min
May 18, 6:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	TOP	Brown, Jackson, Nemaha, Pottawatomie	36 min
May 18, 6:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Dickinson, Geary, Morris, Wabaunsee	46 min
May 18, 7:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Butler, Chase, Greenwood, Harvey, McPherson, Marion	48 min
May 18, 7:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	OAX	Richardson	33 min
May 18, 7:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Kingman, Reno, Sedgwick	45 min
May 18, 7:17 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TOP	Geary, Pottawatomie, Riley	3 hr
May 18, 7:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	TOP	Brown, Nemaha	40 min
May 18, 7:22 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Jackson	23 min
May 18, 7:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Richardson	19 min
May 18, 7:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	TOP	Brown, Jackson, Jefferson, Nemaha, Shawnee	33 min
May 18, 7:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Geary, Jackson, Pottawatomie, Riley, Shawnee, Wabaunsee	36 min
May 18, 7:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Geary, Lyon, Morris, Wabaunsee	44 min
May 18, 7:41 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TOP	Geary, Riley, Wabaunsee	3 hr
May 18, 7:47 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Lyon, Morris, Wabaunsee	28 min
May 18, 7:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Butler, Chase, Greenwood, Harvey, Marion	49 min
May 18, 8:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Butler, Kingman, Reno, Sedgwick	45 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 147 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 963 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 271 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 4.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 7:40 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Edwards, Ford, Hodgeman, Kiowa, Ness, Pawnee and 3 more	3 hr
May 17, 8:07 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Doniphan	5 hr
May 18, 11:59 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Brown, Chase, Clay, Cloud, Dickinson, Ellsworth and 20 more	2 hr
May 18, 2:07 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Clay, Cloud, Lincoln, Marshall, Ottawa, Washington	83 min
May 18, 2:31 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Barber, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Kiowa, Pratt and 1 more	119 min
May 18, 3:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Barber, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Ford, Kiowa and 3 more	6 hr
May 18, 3:49 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Atchison, Doniphan	6 hr
May 18, 5:45 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Atchison, Brown, Doniphan, Jackson, Marshall, Nemaha and 2 more	2 hr
May 18, 6:14 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Anderson, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Coffey, Cowley and 24 more	7 hr
May 17, 9:30 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Andrew, Atchison, Gentry, Harrison, Holt, Mercer and 2 more	90 min
May 18, 6:51 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Audrain, Callaway, Cole, Franklin, Gasconade, Jefferson and 11 more	84 min
May 18, 3:29 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Clinton, Daviess, DeKalb and 6 more	2 hr
May 18, 5:10 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Burt, Butler, Colfax, Cuming, Dakota, Dixon and 7 more	95 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2026 Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2026 Every tornado watch 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.