Kansas, 2001

Hail in Kansas, April 20, 2001

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

5 hail, 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, 8 hours 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 20, 2:00 PM CST, 8 hours 58 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, 10:14 PM CST, 44 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1114 PM CDT FRI APR 20 2001

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

1112 PM    13 SW HOLTON              KS    1 INCH HAIL
04/20/01   JACKSON
Local storm report, Apr 20, 10:16 PM CST, 42 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1116 PM CDT FRI APR 20 2001

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

1100 PM    1 NE ALMA                 KS    60+ MPH TSTM GUST
04/20/01   WABAUNSEE                       SHERIFF DISPATCHER
Local storm report, Apr 20, 10:37 PM CST, 21 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1137 PM CDT FRI APR 20 2001

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

1133 PM    MAPLE HILL                KS    1 INCH HAIL
04/20/01   WABAUNSEE
Local storm report, Apr 20, 10:41 PM CST, 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1141 PM CDT FRI APR 20 2001

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

1137 PM    HOYT                      KS    1.75 INCH HAIL
04/20/01   JACKSON
Local storm report, Apr 20, 10:43 PM CST, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1143 PM CDT FRI APR 20 2001

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

1133 PM    12 NW TOPEKA              KS    .88 INCH HAIL
04/20/01   SHAWNEE

1141 PM    MERIDEN                   KS    .88 INCH HAIL
04/20/01   JEFFERSON
Local storm report, Apr 20, 10:54 PM CST, 4 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1154 PM CDT FRI APR 20 2001

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

1140 PM    WILLARD                   KS    1 INCH HAIL
04/20/01   SHAWNEE

1148 PM    OZAWKIE                   KS    .75 INCH HAIL
04/20/01   JEFFERSON

1151 PM    OZAWKIE                   KS    1.75 INCH HAIL
04/20/01   JEFFERSON

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 45 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:59 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Shawnee

When
April 20, 10:58 PM CST
Where
Shawnee County, 2 mi NW of Topeka
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.067, -95.717

Hail, Shawnee

When
April 20, 10:58 PM CST
Where
Shawnee County, 1 mi S of Elmont
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
39.150, -95.700

Hail, Shawnee

When
April 20, 10:59 PM CST
Where
Shawnee County, 4 mi N of Topeka
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.100, -95.683

Hail, Jefferson

When
April 20, 11:00 PM CST
Where
Jefferson County, Winchester
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
39.317, -95.267

Hail, Jefferson

When
April 20, 11:10 PM CST
Where
Jefferson County, 2 mi S of Rock Creek
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
39.217, -95.533

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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: 5240575, 5240576, 5240577, 5240578, 5240681.