Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, May 20, 2001

Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, May 20, 2001
Start: 2001-05-20T15:05
End: 2001-05-20T20:30
Location: Kansas

May 20, 2001 · NWS TOP · 5 events in 3 counties and zones

3 lightning, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 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: $5,000
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 May 20, 1:50 PM CST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 1:50 PM CST, 1 hour 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  TOPEKA KS
250 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2001

IN THE VERY SHORT-TERM...CONVECTION IN CENTRAL/NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS
DEVELOPED IN MODERATELY UNSTABLE AIR WHERE SOME CLEARING OCCURRED.
MEAN WIND VECTORS WOULD CARRY IT NORTHEAST INTO THE FORECAST
AREA...BUT WITH TIME...THE FLOW BECOMES WESTERLY BY 00Z THEN
NORTHWEST AS THE FRONT PUSHES THROUGH.  THEREFORE THINK THE
SOUTHWEST EDGE OF THE CWA STANDS THE BEST CHANCE TO SEE ANY
NEAR-SEVERE WEATHER WITH HAIL AND POSSIBLY SOME WIND THE MAIN THREAT.

FOR TONIGHT ONWARD...MODELS CONTINUE TO FOLLOW THE TREND OF PREVIOUS
VERSIONS.  COLD FRONT EXPECTED TO RACE ACROSS MOST OF THE FORECAST
AREA BEFORE MIDNIGHT.  THE ASSOCIATED H850 OMEGA FORCING WEAKENS AS
THE FRONT BOWS OUT THROUGH THE AREA WITH ENERGY MOVING ACROSS IOWA
AND A SECONDARY CORE WITH UPSLOPE ACTIVITY THROUGH WESTERN KANSAS
WHERE 850/700 THETA-E ADVECTION IS GREATER.

WILL HAVE CATEGORICAL POPS TONIGHT...EXCEPT MAY TREND BACK FOR SOME
OF THE NORTHCENTRAL COUNTIES.  MAY SEE A BREAK IN THE ACTION FOR A
FEW HOURS AS THE INITIAL WAVE PUSHES EAST...THEN WE WAIT FOR THE
FRONT AND APPROACH OF THE MAIN H500 TROF.

AFTER MIDNIGHT...PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES FALL SIGNIFICANTLY.
PRECIP WILL BE OVER BY 12Z MONDAY...BUT H700/500 TROFS ARE YET TO
CLEAR THE AREA AND RH IS STILL HIGH.  THOUGHT ABOUT INCLUDING A
MENTION OF SOME LIGHT SHOWERS...BUT WILL LEAVE DRY FOR NOW.

MODEL TEMPERATURE GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SHOW A SIGNIFICANT COOLING
TREND...HOWEVER THINK GUIDANCE TONIGHT IS ABOUT 2-4 DEGREES TOO COOL
WHEN LOOKING AT TRAJECTORY FORECASTS FROM UPSTREAM.  EXPECT A
SECONDARY COLD AIR SKURGE TO BE WITH THE H500 TROF PASSAGE DURING THE
DAY MONDAY...SO HIGHS 55 TO 60 LOOK REASONABLE (WHICH IS BELOW
CURRENT FORECAST).

ROGERS

.TOP...NONE

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 lightning, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Riley

When: May 20, 3:05 PM CST
Where: Riley County, 1 mi N of Manhattan
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 39.200, -96.583

Hail, Coffey

When: May 20, 4:30 PM CST
Where: Coffey County, 6 mi SE of Lebo
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 38.350, -95.767

Lightning, Shawnee

When: May 20, 4:55 PM CST
Where: Shawnee County, Topeka
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.042, -95.756 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning struck a power line causing about 1,800 customers of KPL to lose power for about an hour.

Lightning, Shawnee

When: May 20, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Shawnee County, Topeka
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.042, -95.756 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning struck the water treatment plant in Topeka causing power to be knocked out until around 00:30 on the 21st. As a result water supplies ran low in Topeka and some surrounding areas. The problem was corrected about midday on the 21st.

Lightning, Shawnee

When: May 20, 8:30 PM CST
Where: Shawnee County, Topeka
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.042, -95.756 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning struck the roof of a church in Topeka doing around 2,500 dollars in damage.

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.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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, May 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: 5241046, 5241047, 5241048, 5241049, 5241050.