Hail in Kansas, April 3, 2001

Name: Hail in Kansas, April 3, 2001
Start: 2001-04-03T07:52
End: 2001-04-03T08:03
Location: Kansas

April 3, 2001 · NWS TOP · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Thunderstorms developed over north central Kansas in the morning of the 3rd and moved southeast with numerous reports of large hail.

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: 2

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 happened

The episode as NWS TOP wrote it up.

Thunderstorms developed over north central Kansas in the morning of the 3rd and moved southeast with numerous reports of large hail.

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 3, 2:05 AM CST, 5 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 3, 2:05 AM CST, 5 hours 47 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
305 AM CDT TUE APR 3 2001

MAIN FORECAST QUESTION IS HOW FAST WILL THE WARM FRONT MOVE
NORTHWARD.

GENERALLY PREFER THE ETA FORECAST AS IT APPEARS TO BEST HANDLE THE
NORTHWARD MOVEMENT OF WARM FRONT.

WOULD EXPECT TODAY TO BE SIMILAR TO MONDAY WITH WARM FRONT LOCATED
ACROSS SOUTHEAST KANSAS...AND MOIST FLOW OVERRUNNING THE BOUNDARY
INTO NORTHEAST KANSAS.  FORECAST SOUNDINGS SHOW LITTLE INSTABILITY
SO MAINLY EXPECT JUST SCATTERED SHOWERS TODAY.  CLOUDS AND SCATTERED
PRECIPITATION SHOULD HELP HOLD HIGHS IN THE 60S...PRETTY MUCH IN
LINE WITH GUIDANCE TEMPERATURES.

OVERRUNNING BECOMES STRONGER OVERNIGHT...AS 850 MB FLOW STRENGTHENS
AND LOW LEVEL MOISTURE CONTINUES TO INCREASE.  WILL MENTION THUNDER
OVERNIGHT AS LAPSE RATES CONTINUE TO STEEPEN.

WARM FRONT SHOULD PUSH INTO EAST CENTRAL KANSAS WEDNESDAY...BUT WILL
NOT LIKELY MAKE IT THROUGH NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL KANSAS UNTIL
WEDNESDAY NIGHT.  THIS SHOULD LEAD TO A GOOD TEMPERATURE CONTRAST
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON WITH HIGHS IN THE UPPER 60S ALONG THE NEBRASKA
BORDER TO AROUND 80 IN EMPORIA.  FORECAST SOUNDINGS SHOWING CAPES OF
2000 TO 3000 J/KG DEVELOPING ALONG THE WARM FRONT BY LATE
AFTERNOON.  GOOD DIRECTIONAL SHEAR ALONG THE WARM FRONT...BUT THE
WIND FIELDS ARE FAIRLY WEAK.  WILL CONTINUE CURRENT CHANCE POPS WITH
THE HIGHEST POPS NEAR THE WARM FRONT.

IN THE EXTENDED...MODELS ALL AGREE THURSDAY TO BE WINDY AND WARM AS
WARM FRONT PUSHES NORTH OF THE AREA.  A STRONG WAVE IS FORECAST TO
EJECT OUT ON FRIDAY...WITH QUIETER WEATHER OVER THE WEEKEND.

.TOP...NONE.

58

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 3, 4:10 AM CST, 3 hours 42 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
510 AM CDT TUE APR 03 2001

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

0503 AM    BELLEVILLE                KS    .75 INCH HAIL
04/03/01   REPUBLIC

Local storm report, Apr 3, 4:19 AM CST, 3 hours 33 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
519 AM CDT TUE APR 03 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....
=
0517 AM    BELLEVILLE                KS    .88 INCH HAIL
04/03/01   REPUBLIC

Local storm report, Apr 3, 4:51 AM CST, 3 hours 1 minute before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
551 AM CDT TUE APR 03 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....
=
0548 AM    AGENDA                    KS    .75 INCH HAIL
04/03/01   REPUBLIC

Local storm report, Apr 3, 7:30 AM CST, 22 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
830 AM CDT TUE APR 03 2001

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

0828 AM    ST MARYS                  KS    1 INCH HAIL
04/03/01   POTTAWATOMIE

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 27 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:54 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Pottawatomie

When: April 3, 7:52 AM CST
Where: Pottawatomie County, St Marys
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.200, -96.067

Hail, Shawnee

When: April 3, 8:03 AM CST
Where: Shawnee County, 2 mi E of Silver Lake
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.100, -95.833

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

Every storm in Kansas in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history 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: 5239991, 5239992.