Thunderstorms over northeast and east central Kansas the early morning hours of the 19th produced lightning which struck several structures and did extensive damage to some of them. Total damage caused by lighting was estimated well over one half million dollars.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS TOP wrote it up.
Thunderstorms over northeast and east central Kansas the early morning hours of the 19th produced lightning which struck several structures and did extensive damage to some of them. Total damage caused by lighting was estimated well over one half million dollars.
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 Jun 19, 1:10 AM CST, 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 210 AM CDT TUE JUN 19 2001 THUNDERSTORM CHANCES AND AFFECT ON TEMPERATURES MAIN FORECAST CONCERNS. MAIN FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO BE ALONG COLD FRONT WHICH IS MOVING SOUTH ACROSS THE CWA CURRENTLY. MODELS SHOW FRONT OVER SOUTHEAST HALF OF CWA AROUND 12Z THIS MORNING AND JUST SOUTH OF THE CWA BY THIS EVENING (00Z WEDNESDAY). EXPECT CURRENT ROUND OF CONVECTION TO GRADUALLY WEAKEN BY LATE THIS MORNING WITH ANOTHER ROUND DEVELOPING LATER THIS AFTERNOON. FINAL ZFP BREAKDOWN AND WORDING WILL BE DEPENDANT ON THE SITUATION NEAR THE ZONE ISSUANCE TIME. ORIENTATION OF SURFACE FRONTAL SYSTEM AND 500 MB FLOW PATTERN LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SUGGESTS TRAIN ECHOES ARE LIKELY...MAINLY OVER THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE CWA NEAREST THE FRONTAL SYSTEM WHERE CONVECTION SHOULD BE THE MOST ORGANIZED AND MOST WIDESPREAD. WILL INCLUDE MENTION OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN FOR ROUGHLY THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE CWA TONIGHT. POPS WILL BE RETAINED THROUGH TONIGHT OVER THE WHOLE CWA WITH DECREASING POP VALUES TO THE NORTH...SIMILAR TO THE CURRENT FORECAST. HAVE RETAINED POPS OVER THE CWA WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS WELL. POP VALUES HAVE BEEN LOWERED A CATEGORY WEDNESDAY CLOSER IN LINE TO LATEST GUIDANCE CONSENSUS...AND KEPT AS IS FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT WHICH IS CONSISTENT WITH GUIDANCE CONSENSUS. REGARDING TEMPERATURES...FAN, FWC AND MAV SHOW A WIDE RANGE OF SOLUTIONS WHICH REVEALS THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE SITUATION. IN THIS SITUATION WILL NOT DEVIATE TOO FAR FROM THE GOING FORECAST UNTIL THINGS BECOME MORE CLEAR. .TOP...NONE 34
KSZ008-020-034-190420- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 1101 PM CDT MON JUN 18 2001 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 449 VALID UNTIL 11 PM HAS EXPIRED FOR A PART OGF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS... THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS EXPIRED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS... REPUBLIC...CLOUD AND OTTAWA.
The Topeka radar (KTWX), 60 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:29 UTC.
4 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a propane tank and started a fire that did minor damage as well as burning most of the propane.
Lightning struck a house and ignited a fire that did extensive damage to the structure. No one was injured.
Lightning struck a church and ignited a fire that totally destroyed the church.
Lightning struck a storage barn and ignited a fire that damaged the structure and much of its contents.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, June 2001
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: 5249504, 5249505, 5249506, 5249507.