Kansas, 2001

Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, April 20, 2001

April 20, 2001 · NWS TOP · 5 events in 2 counties and zones

4 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
5

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Topeka, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 20, 2:00 PM CST, 7 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 20, 2:00 PM CST, 7 hours 7 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
3 PM CDT FRI APR 20 2001

THUNDERSTORM CHANCES ARE MAIN FORECAST CONCERN THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

LATEST SATELLITE SHOWING EXTENSIVE MID AND HIGH CLOUDS CONTINUING
ACROSS THE REGION...WHICH MAY THIN OUT LATER...BUT SHOULD PERSIST
THROUGH MUCH OF THE NIGHT. WARM FRONT HAS LIFTED NORTH INTO SOUTHERN
NEBRASKA WITH DRYLINE EXTENDING SOUTHWESTWARD THROUGH WESTCENTRAL
KANSAS.

INITIAL SHORTWAVE MOVING ACROSS THE AREA WILL BE REPLACED BY
STRONGER SHORTWAVE NOW MOVING THROUGH THE CENTRAL ROCKIES. VERY
STRONG CAP IN PLACE ALTHOUGH BETTER POTENTIAL FOR CAP BEING BROKE
LATER IN THE NIGHT AS WAVE LIFTS OUT AND TEMPORARY BACKING FLOW
ALLOWS DEEPER LOW LEVEL MOISTURE TO RETURN. SOME POTENTIAL FOR
CONVECTION TO DEVELOP EARLIER AHEAD OF DRYLINE. WILL KEEP POPS GOING
ALL AREAS WITH HIGHER POPS AND BETTER SEVERE POTENTIAL ACROSS THE
NORTH AND NORTHCENTRAL.

AS SFC LOW MOVES OFF TO THE NORTHEAST EXPECT FRONT TO MOVE INTO THE
CWA FROM WEST OVERNIGHT BUT NOT MAKE IT MUCH FURTHER SOUTHEAST THAN
THE EASTCENTRAL AREAS. WOULD EXPECT THE POSSIBILITY OF MORE
CONVECTION TO REDEVELOP ALONG AND NORTH OF BOUNDARY IN THE AFTERNOON
OVER SOUTHERN 2/3 OF THE CWA WITH A BETTER CHANCE INTO THE NIGHT AS
NEXT SHORTWAVE EMERGES FROM THE HIGH PLAINS. WILL INCREASE POPS
ACROSS THE CWA SATURDAY NIGHT TO AROUND 50 PERCENT.

MAIN UPPER LOW WILL BEGIN TO APPROACH THE AREA SUNDAY INTO SUNDAY
NIGHT. EXTENSIVE CLOUDS AND SOME PRECIP WILL LIKELY HELP TO LIMIT
HIGHS TEMPS. WILL GO WITH COMPROMISE OF COOLER FWC SATURDAY AND
WARMER MAV/FAN FOR SUNDAY. WILL ALSO GO WITH LIKELY POPS SUNDAY
NIGHT AS MAING UPPER LEVEL PUSH ENTERS THE CWA FROM WEST TO EAST.

.TOP...NONE.

63

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 20, 5:41 PM CST, 3 hours 26 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
641 PM CDT FRI APR 20 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0614 PM    VALLEY FALLS              KS    .75 INCH HAIL
04/20/01   JEFFERSON
Local storm report, Apr 20, 7:42 PM CST, 1 hour 25 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
842 PM CDT FRI APR 20 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....
q
0828 PM    JAMESTOWN                 KS    .75 INCH HAIL
04/20/01   CLOUD                           60 MPH WND

0835 PM    5 NE REPUBLIC             KS    .75 INCH HAIL
04/20/01   REPUBLIC
Local storm report, Apr 20, 8:55 PM CST, 12 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
955 PM CDT FRI APR 20 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0930 PM    2 E NILES                 KS    .75 INCH HAIL
04/20/01   OTTAWA

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 96 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:08 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Dickinson

When
April 20, 9:07 PM CST
Where
Dickinson County, 8 mi SW of Abilene
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
38.833, -97.317

Hail, Dickinson

When
April 20, 9:25 PM CST
Where
Dickinson County, 7 mi S of Abilene
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
38.817, -97.217

Hail, Geary

When
April 20, 9:29 PM CST
Where
Geary County, 3 mi SE of Milford
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.133, -96.883

Hail, Dickinson

When
April 20, 9:33 PM CST
Where
Dickinson County, 5 mi E of Enterprise
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
38.900, -97.017

Thunderstorm Wind, Geary

When
April 20, 9:35 PM CST
Where
Geary County, 8 mi E of Ft Riley
Measured
61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.050, -96.617

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Kansas in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, April 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5240560, 5240561, 5240562, 5240563, 5240564.