Kansas, 2001

Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Kansas, July 27, 2001

July 27, 2001 · NWS GLD · 9 events in 4 counties and zones

3 hail, 2 tornado, 2 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
9

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 Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 27, 12:40 PM MST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 27, 12:40 PM MST, 4 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
140 PM MDT FRI JUL 27 2001

QUESTION THIS AFTERNOON IS WHETHER A LAST ROUND OF HEAVY RAINFALL
HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BRING FLOODING TO SOUTHERN AND EASTERN FA.

FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE VALUES HAVE FALLEN TO BLO AN INCH OVER MUCH OF
ERN FA TODAY AND ANOTHER SHORT WAVE IS PROGGED TO IMPACT AREA.
PRECIP WATER REMAINS QUITE HIGH OVER THE EAST WITH VALUES OVER 1.5
INCHES IN EAST. FAVORABLE LOCATION WITH RESPECT TO 250 MB JET AND
GOOD COOLING AT MID LEVELS BEING PROGGED BY ETA AND AVN MAY ADD FUEL
TO THE MIX.  CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL LIMITED SOMEWHAT BY MID LEVEL
CLOUDS INHIBITING SURFACE HEATING.

AT 1730Z...SURFACE TROUGH EXTENDS NE-SW JUST EAST OF GLD. LAPS DATA
INDICATES THAT CAP HAS ERODED SIGNIFICANTLY ALONG THIS BOUNDARY BUT
WELL IN PLACE ELSEWHERE. ETA/RUC SUGGESTS THAT CONVECTION WILL BE
LIMITED TO THIS BOUNDARY AND SOUTHEAST. OVERALL...AGREE WITH THIS
FORECAST BUT WILL KEEP A SLIGHT CHANCE IN FORECAST NORTHWEST OF THE
BOUNDARY SINCE THE PROGGED COOLING OF MID LEVEL TEMPS MAY COMBINE
WITH STORM OUTFLOW TO ALLOW CONVECTION TO DEVELOP BACK INTO
NORTHEAST COLORADO.

SOUTHEAST OF THE BOUNDARY...SCATTERED CONVECTION SEEMS LIKELY THIS
EVENING WITH SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. HOWEVER...STORMS SHOULD
MOVE MORE QUICKLY THAN PAST FEW DAYS AND COVERAGE SHOULD BE LESS.
WILL HOLD OFF ON FFA ATTM.

AFTER TONIGHT...RIDGE BUILDS IN PER AVN...MRF...ECMWF ALLOWING TEMPS
TO WARM AND GROUND TO BEGIN TO DRY OUT.  850 TEMPS ARE PROGGED TO
REACH 30C+ OVER MUCH OF FA.  WILL GO DRY AND CLOSE TO WARMER FWC
NUMBERS BEGINING TOMORROW.  IN THE EXTENDED...THE NEXT CHANCE OF
PRECIP& APPEARS TO BE TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS RIDGE BREAKS
DOWN ENOUGH TO BRING A WEAK WAVE ACROSS COLORADO.

.GLD...NONE.

BARKER

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 27, 4:03 PM MST, 37 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
503 PM MDT FRI JUL 27 2001

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....
.
0345 PM    12 SSE TRIBUNE            KS   1 INCH HAIL
07/27/01   GREELEY                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC.
Local storm report, Jul 27, 4:29 PM MST, 11 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
529 PM MDT FRI JUL 27 2001

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....
/
0517 PM    18 NNW LEVANT             KS   TORNADO
07/27/01   RAWLINS                        REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:39 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail, 2 tornado, 2 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Rawlins

When
July 27, 4:40 PM MST
Where
Rawlins County, 5 mi SW of Atwood
Rating
F0
Path length
0.2 mi
Path width
50 yd
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.750, -101.117

A brief tornado touched down over open fields across southern Rawlins county.

Hail, Rawlins

When
July 27, 5:05 PM MST
Where
Rawlins County, 4 mi WSW of Blakeman
Measured
1.5 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
39.800, -101.183

Hail, Rawlins

When
July 27, 5:15 PM MST
Where
Rawlins County, 20 mi SW of Atwood
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
39.600, -101.317

Thunderstorm Wind, Thomas

When
July 27, 5:30 PM MST
Where
Thomas County, 12 mi NNW of Levant
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
39.550, -101.283

Hail, Logan

When
July 27, 7:27 PM MST
Where
Logan County, 9 mi E of Winona
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
39.067, -101.083

Flash Flood, Gove

When
July 27, 7:45 PM MST to 9:00 PM MST
Where
Gove County, 5 mi SE of Gove
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
38.916, -100.483 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rains caused a septic tank to overflow and water was running over many county roads.

Flash Flood, Logan

When
July 27, 8:15 PM MST to 9:30 PM MST
Where
Logan County, 2 mi E of Monument
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
38.917, -101.148 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Locally very heavy rains caused water of significant depth to run over highway 40 and highway 83. Also, many county roads were flooded.

Funnel Cloud, Rawlins

When
July 27, 10:15 PM MST
Where
Rawlins County, 12 mi SE of Mc Donald
Reported by
STORM CHASER
Coordinates
39.785, -101.076 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Funnel eventually touched down.

Tornado, Rawlins

When
July 27, 10:17 PM MST to 10:22 PM MST
Where
Rawlins County, 12 mi SE of Mc Donald
Rating
F0
Path length
0.5 mi
Path width
50 yd
Reported by
AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates
39.667, -101.200

Tornado had about a 5 minute life span over open fields according to spotters in 2 counties.

What these are

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.
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.
Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
Funnel Cloud
A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.

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 historyThe tornado archive for Kansas, 2001Warnings in Kansas, July 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: 5261497, 5261498, 5261499, 5261500, 5261501, 5261502, 5261572, 5261574, 5261573.