Kansas, 2001

Damaging Winds in Kansas, August 23, 2001

August 23, 2001 · NWS TOP · 5 events in 4 counties and zones

5 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 Aug 23, 3:05 PM CST, 5 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 23, 3:05 PM CST, 5 hours 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
405 PM CDT THU AUG 23 2001

MAIN FORECAST CONCERN IS HEAVY RAIN POTENTIAL TONIGHT AND FRIDAY.

DISCREPANCIES IN MODELS AS TO HOW PRECIPITATION EVENT WILL EVOLVE
OVERNIGHT INTO FRIDAY. OBVIOUSLY WOULD EXPECT TO SEE HEAVY RAINS
ACCOMPANYING UPPER LOW EASTWARD ACROSS SOUTHERN NEBRASKA/NORTHERN KS
OVERNIGHT. HOWEVER ETA INDICATING HEAVIEST RAINS TO BE OVER
SOUTHERN KANSAS WHILE AVN STARTS OUT PRECIP IN SOUTH BUT SHIFTS IT
NORTH TO NORTH CENTRAL/NORTHEAST KS BY 12Z. NGM QPF WAS SOMEWHAT OF
A COMPROMISE OF ETA/AVN...PLACING HEAVY RAINS IN EMP AREA. CURRENT
SURFACE ANALYSIS/SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM
OVERNIGHT CONVECTION FROM NORTH OF CNU TO SOUTH OF EMP TO SOUTH OF
SLN AND ON NORTHWEST INTO CONVECTION OVER NORTHWEST KS. MSAS SHOWS
RELATIVELY STABLE AIR OVER NORTHEAST KS WITH INSTABILITY AXIS AND
CONVERGENCE ALONG BOUNDARY. TCU NOTED ALONG BOUNDARY ON LATEST VIS
WITH RADARS SHOWING A FEW ECHOES DEVELOPING ALONG BOUNDARY. THUS
BELIEVE HEAVIEST RAIN POTENTIAL WILL BE NEAR BOUNDARY OVER SOUTHWEST
HALF CWA OVERNIGHT WITH NORTHEAST KS HAVING LEAST CHANCES OF HEAVY
RAINS. GOING WITH LIKELY POPS OVER ENTIRE CWA.

FOR FRIDAY...WILL CONTINUE WITH LIKELY POPS FOR ENTIRE AREA AS UPPER
LOW MOVES EAST ALONG KS/NEBRASKA BORDER THROUGH CWA. WILL ALSO KEEP
MENTION OF HEAVY RAINS IN NORTHERN HALF OF CWA WHERE 850 MB
TROUGH/LOW WILL RESIDE. WILL CUT BACK ON TEMPERATURES...ESPECIALLY
NORTHERN PART OF CWA...DUE TO CLOUDS AND LIKELY PRECIPITATION.

FOR FRIDAY NIGHT...SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS STILL LOOKING LIKELY INTO
THE EVENING HOURS ACROSS EASTERN TWO THIRDS OF CWA...WILL CUT BACK
TO CHANCE POPS FOR WESTERN PORTION.

UPPER TROUGH FINALLY WILL BE EXITING EASTERN PART OF CWA SATURDAY
MORNING...BUT MAY SEE A FEW SHOWERS LINGERING EARLY IN THE DAY OVER
THE NORTHEAST SO KEPT 20 PERCENT POPS THERE. OTHERWISE...GRADUAL
CLEARING FROM THE WEST DURING THE DAY. CUT FWC TEMPERATURES SLIGHTLY
TO MID AND UPPER 80S.

.TOP...NONE.

38

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 23, 6:52 PM CST, 1 hour 58 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
752 PM CDT THU AUG 23 2001

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

0742 PM    2 SE TESCOTT              KS    .75 INCH HAIL
08/23/01   OTTAWA

0742 PM    2 SE TESCOTT              KS     60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/23/01   OTTAWA
Local storm report, Aug 23, 6:57 PM CST, 1 hour 53 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
757 PM CDT THU AUG 23 2001

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

0754 PM    2 SE TESCOTT              KS    .75 INCH HAIL
08/23/01   OTTAWA                           70 TO 75 MPH WIND
Local storm report, Aug 23, 7:22 PM CST, 1 hour 28 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
822 PM CDT THU AUG 23 2001

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

0810 PM    4 SW OLPE                 KS    60-70 MPH TSTM GUST
08/23/01   LYON
Local storm report, Aug 23, 8:27 PM CST, 23 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
927 PM CDT THU AUG 23 2001

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

0920 PM    2 N GREEN                 KS    65+ MPH TSTM GUST
08/23/01   CLAY                            POWER POLE AND TREE
                                           DAMAGE
Local storm report, Aug 23, 8:31 PM CST, 19 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
931 PM CDT THU AUG 23 2001

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

0923 PM    RANDOLPH                  KS    60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/23/01   RILEY
Local storm report, Aug 23, 8:34 PM CST, 16 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
934 PM CDT THU AUG 23 2001

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

0926 PM    2 W MILFORD
           NEAR CURTIS CREEK        KS       1 INCH HAIL
08/23/01   GEARY

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 60 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:48 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Pottawatomie

When
August 23, 8:50 PM CST
Where
Pottawatomie County, 2 mi W of Olsburg
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.433, -96.650

Thunderstorm Wind, Pottawatomie

When
August 23, 9:00 PM CST
Where
Pottawatomie County, 9 mi N of Onaga
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
39.617, -96.167

Thunderstorm Wind, Marshall

When
August 23, 9:05 PM CST
Where
Marshall County, 2 mi W of Frankfort
Measured
61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
39.700, -96.450

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When
August 23, 9:35 PM CST
Where
Jefferson County, 2 mi N of Valley Falls
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.367, -95.467

Thunderstorm Wind, Jackson

When
August 23, 9:35 PM CST
Where
Jackson County, Holton
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
39.467, -95.750

What these are

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, August 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: 5260019, 5260020, 5260021, 5260121, 5260122.