Tornadoes and Hail in Kansas, April 21, 2001

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Kansas, April 21, 2001
Start: 2001-04-21T18:20
End: 2001-04-21T22:20
Location: Kansas

April 21, 2001 · NWS ICT · 26 events in 4 counties and zones

19 hail, 5 tornado, 2 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: 1
Injuries: 28
Property damage: $43 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 26

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 Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 21, 5:02 PM CST, 1 hour 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 21, 5:02 PM CST, 1 hour 18 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
602 PM CDT SAT APR 21 2001

...MESOSCALE UPDATE...

MAIN FOCUS FOR TSTMS OVR NEXT FEW HRS WL BE ALG WFNT CURRENTLY
EXTENDING FM NR SLN TO JUST S OF RSL.  THE FNT CONTS TO MOVE TO THE
N.  MOST IMPORTANTLY THE HILLSBORO PROFILER/RASS SOUNDING SHOWS STG
CAP.  THIS IS CONSISTANT WITH BOTH LAPS SOUNDINGS.  RADAR TRENDS
ALSO SIMILAR WITH WEAK DVLPMT ALG FNT IN CNTRL KS BUT WITH
MOST/STONGEST TSTMS TO THE NE WHERE CAP IS WEAKER.  WHILE CANNOT RUN
OUT AN ISOLATED/BRIEF STG/SVR TSTM IN CNTRL KS THRU SUNSET...BELIEVE
BETTER CHC WL BE LATER TONIGHT AS LLVL JET KICKS IN AND SOME COOLING
ALF.  HOWEVER THE BIG QUESTION THEN IS WHERE WL THE FNT BE LOCATED?
IF 12Z MODELS ARE CORRECT MUCH OF ACTIVITY WL END UP N OF OUR FCST
AREA.  THE ONLY OTHER CHC WOULD BE IF TSTMS DVLP ALG RETREATING
DRYLN TO THE W AND THEN MOVE INTO THE AREA...BUT AGAIN THAT WOULD
LKLY BE MUCH LATER TNGT.

HOWERTON

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 146 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:20 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

19 hail, 5 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Ellsworth

When: April 21, 6:20 PM CST
Where: Ellsworth County, Black Wolf
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.750, -98.367

Hail, Ellsworth

When: April 21, 7:03 PM CST
Where: Ellsworth County, 10 mi N of Kanopolis
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.867, -98.150

Hail, Ellsworth

When: April 21, 7:15 PM CST
Where: Ellsworth County, 12 mi NE of Kanopolis
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.833, -98.000

Hail, Lincoln

When: April 21, 7:23 PM CST
Where: Lincoln County, Westfall
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.933, -98.000

Hail, Barton

When: April 21, 7:35 PM CST
Where: Barton County, 2 mi S of Albert
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 38.417, -99.017

Hail, Barton

When: April 21, 7:38 PM CST
Where: Barton County, 2 mi N of Albert
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 38.483, -99.017

Thunderstorm Wind, Barton

When: April 21, 7:45 PM CST
Where: Barton County, Albert
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 38.450, -99.017

Hail, Barton

When: April 21, 7:45 PM CST
Where: Barton County, 5 mi W of Olmitz
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 38.517, -99.033

Hail, Barton

When: April 21, 7:45 PM CST
Where: Barton County, 3 mi W of Olmitz
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.517, -98.983

Hail, Barton

When: April 21, 7:50 PM CST
Where: Barton County, Olmitz
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates: 38.517, -98.933

Hail, Barton

When: April 21, 8:00 PM CST
Where: Barton County, 1 mi W of Hoisington
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 38.517, -98.783

Tornado, Barton

When: April 21, 8:15 PM CST to 8:35 PM CST
Where: Barton County, 1 mi SW of Hoisington
Rating: F4
Path length: 5 mi
Path width: 660 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 28 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $43 million
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.500, -98.783

Initial touchdown occurred 1 mile southwest of Hoisington. The tornado rapidly achieved F3 intensity as it entered the west side of town. Moving northeast around 20 mph, the tornado intensified to F4 within 2-3 minutes. While crossing northwest Hoisington, the tornado inflicted a path about 2 miles long and about 2 blocks wide of almost complete destruction. Damage summary: 182 homes destroyed, 52 homes with major damage, 180 homes with minor to moderate damage, 12 businesses destroyed, tore the roof off the hospital, and severed power to most (if not all) areas on the northwest and north sides of town. As the tornado exited through the north side of town it weakened rapidly, inflicting F1-F2 damage as it approached Deception Creek which runs in a southeast to northwest manner 3 miles northeast of town. Once the tornado crossed the creek, it suddenly turned toward the northwest where it damaged two farmsteads shortly before dissipating.One man, 69 years of age, was killed when a minivan fell on him. There were 28 injuries of which 3 were critical.

Thunderstorm Wind, Barton

When: April 21, 8:15 PM CST
Where: Barton County, 2 mi NE of Hoisington
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.533, -98.733

Hail, Barton

When: April 21, 8:20 PM CST
Where: Barton County, 7 mi N of Claflin
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.617, -98.533

Tornado, Barton

When: April 21, 8:37 PM CST
Where: Barton County, 1 mi W of Susank
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.5 mi
Path width: 55 yd
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 38.633, -98.783

Brief touchdown in open country.

Hail, Barton

When: April 21, 8:58 PM CST
Where: Barton County, 2 mi NE of Hitschmann
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.633, -98.533

Hail, Russell

When: April 21, 8:58 PM CST
Where: Russell County, 20 mi SE of Russell
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.683, -98.583

Tornado, Ellsworth

When: April 21, 9:15 PM CST
Where: Ellsworth County, 7 mi SW of Ellsworth
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.5 mi
Path width: 55 yd
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 38.667, -98.333

Brief touchdown in open country.

Hail, Ellsworth

When: April 21, 9:20 PM CST
Where: Ellsworth County, 3 mi NE of Wilson
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.850, -98.433

Hail, Russell

When: April 21, 9:28 PM CST
Where: Russell County, 16 mi SW of Russell
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.717, -99.067

Tornado, Ellsworth

When: April 21, 9:44 PM CST to 9:50 PM CST
Where: Ellsworth County, 8 mi N of Ellsworth
Rating: F0
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 220 yd
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 38.850, -98.233

Occurred at I-70/K-14 interchange just south of Ellsworth/Lincoln county line. Although the tornado remained in open country, two sheds were damaged and a few trees were uprooted.

Hail, Ellsworth

When: April 21, 9:45 PM CST
Where: Ellsworth County, 7 mi N of Ellsworth
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 38.833, -98.233

Time estimated. Hail occurred very close to tornado occurrence.

Hail, Russell

When: April 21, 9:51 PM CST
Where: Russell County, Russell
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 38.883, -98.850

Hail, Russell

When: April 21, 9:53 PM CST
Where: Russell County, Russell
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 38.883, -98.850

Hail, Lincoln

When: April 21, 9:58 PM CST
Where: Lincoln County, 3 mi S of Lincoln
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.983, -98.150

Tornado, Lincoln

When: April 21, 10:15 PM CST to 10:20 PM CST
Where: Lincoln County, 7 mi S of Lincoln
Rating: F0
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 220 yd
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.933, -98.150

Minor damage to one home as well as a few trees.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tornado, Barton	2001-04-21	69	Male	Permanent Home	Direct

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.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Kansas in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Kansas, 2001 Warnings 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: 5236130, 5236131, 5236132, 5236133, 5236134, 5236135, 5236136, 5236137, 5236138, 5236139, 5236140, 5236229, 5236230, 5236231, 5236232, 5236233, 5236512, 5236234, 5236235, 5236506, 5236507, 5236513, 5236508, 5236509, 5236510, 5236511.