Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, April 29, 2003

Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, April 29, 2003
Start: 2003-04-29T02:05
End: 2003-04-29T04:05
Location: Kansas

April 29, 2003 · NWS GID · 7 events in 3 counties and zones

Late night thunderstorms dumped hail and snapped tree limbs in parts of north-central Kansas. Numerous limbs were broke west of Phillipsburg.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: $185,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 GID wrote it up.

Late night thunderstorms dumped hail and snapped tree limbs in parts of north-central Kansas. Numerous limbs were broke west of Phillipsburg. Golfball size hail caused roof and vehicle damage north of Kensington, while hail of similar size covered the ground northwest of Mankato.

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 Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 29, 1:14 AM CST, 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 29, 1:14 AM CST, 51 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
214 AM CDT TUE APR 29 2003

...MAIN CONCERN IS SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL SETTING UP FOR TONIGHT...

SATL PIX AND LATEST UAA SHOWING AN UPPER LEVEL LOW SPINNING OVER THE
COAST NEAR THE PACIFIC NW. A FEW IMPULSES IDENTIFIED BEING EJECTED
FROM THE MAIN CIRCULATION...MOVING ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN AND
HEADING TOWARD THE ROCKIES. IMPRESSIVE JET CORE ANALYZED AT THE
BOTTOM OF THE CIRCULATION TOO. 850MB ANALYSIS SHOWING AXIS OF
MOISTURE STRETCHING FROM THE GULF COAST OF TEXAS INTO NRN KANSAS.
LATEST 850 MB PROFILERS INDICATING WINDS INCREASING UP TO AROUND 40KT
ACROSS TEXAS AND OKLA...HELPING FEED THE MOISTURE INTO THE PLAINS.

AS MENTIONED...MAIN CONCERN IS FOR POTENTIAL SEVERE OUTBREAK THIS
EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. THE LATEST ETA IS INDICATING STOUT INSTABILITY
ACCOMPANIED BY IMPRESSIVE ATMOSPHERIC SHEAR. IT APPEARS THAT SFC LOW
PRESSURE SHOULD BE DEEPENING NEAR WRN KS BY 00Z TONIGHT AS THE MAIN
UPPER LEVEL CIRCULATION HEADS FOR THE GREAT BASIN. ETA INSTABILITY
PARAMETERS BASICALLY BULLSEYE KS WITH 4000J/KG SBCAPE...LIS
OF -9...AND TTS ABOVE 60 BY EARLY EVENING...ACCOMPANIED BY AN
INCREASING LOW LEVEL JET. AS THE SFC LOW DEVELOPS SW OF THE AREA...
SHEAR INDICES CATAPULT ACROSS THE CWA SUGGESTING SUPERCELLS AS THE
MAIN THREAT. PLENTY OF MOISTURE PROGGED FOR THE AREA AS PRECIPITABLE
WATER VALUES ARE ABOUT 1.50. WITH THIS HIGH CONCENTRATION OF
LOW LEVEL MOISTURE UNDERNEATH STEEP MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES...LARGE
HAIL A DEFINITE POSSIBILITY WITH SOME STORMS. BOTTOM LINE IS THAT
TORNADIC SUPERCELLS APPEAR QUITE PROBABLE DURING THE EVENING HOURS
OVER THE CWA.

AS FOR THE REST OF THE FORECAST...THUNDER CHANCES SEEM REASONABLE
THRU AT LEAST THURSDAY MORNING AS THE UPPER LEVEL LOW CROSSES THE
ROCKIES AND TREKS THRU THE PLAINS. SEVERE WX STILL POSSIBLE MAINLY
IN EASTERN SECTIONS OF OUR NEB CWA WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS SUFFICIENT
LARGE SCALE FORCING ACCOMPANIES INCREASING INSTABILITY PARAMETERS.

ONLY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS MADE TO THE EXTENDED PORTION OF FCST.

.GID...NONE.

DEE

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 28, 9:49 AM CST, 16 hours 16 minutes before

KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-291200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1049 AM CDT MON APR 28 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND
PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE TODAY AND TONIGHT
SOUTH OF A LOUP CITY TO GENEVA NEBRASKA LIKE.  THUNDERSTORMS WILL
DEVELOP OVER EASTERN COLORADO AND WYOMING LATER TODAY...AND ARE
EXPECTED TO DEVELOP EASTWARD INTO SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH
CENTRAL KANSAS THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT.  THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER
HAZARDS WILL BE FOR LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

A STATIONARY FRONT WILL REMAIN DRAPED ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS
DURING THE DAY TUESDAY.  THUNDERSTORMS WILL REDEVELOP BY TUESDAY
EVENING AS THE FRONT BEGINS TO LIFT NORTH. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO TUESDAY NIGHT.
THE MAIN HAZARDS WILL BE FROM LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND.  LOCALLY
HEAVY RAINFALL OF UP TO 2 INCHES IS POSSIBLE FOR PARTS OF SOUTH
CENTRAL NEBRASKA BY DAWN WEDNESDAY.

THE CHANCE FOR MORE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ON WEDNESDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THIS AFTERNOON OR
TONIGHT.

09

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:03 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 hail, 2 heavy rain, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Phillips

When: April 29, 2:05 AM CST
Where: Phillips County, 5 mi W of Phillipsburg
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 39.750, -99.417

Heavy Rain, Phillips

When: April 29, 2:05 AM CST
Where: Phillips County, 5 mi W of Phillipsburg
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 39.785, -99.347 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Three inches of rain fell in a very short amount of time and washed culverts out west of Phillipsburg.

Hail, Phillips

When: April 29, 2:20 AM CST
Where: Phillips County, Phillipsburg
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.750, -99.317

Heavy Rain, Phillips

When: April 29, 2:45 AM CST
Where: Phillips County, 13 mi N of Phillipsburg
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.785, -99.347 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Torrential rainfall of 3 to 7 inches fell in northern Phillips county and washed out culverts and small bridges on rural roads.

Hail, Smith

When: April 29, 2:50 AM CST
Where: Smith County, 9 mi N of Kensington
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.900, -99.033

Hail, Jewell

When: April 29, 3:20 AM CST
Where: Jewell County, Burr Oak
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.867, -98.300

Hail, Jewell

When: April 29, 4:05 AM CST
Where: Jewell County, 13 mi NW of Mankato
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.917, -98.383

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.
Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
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 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Kansas, April 2003

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: 5352506, 5352507, 5352508, 5352509, 5352510, 5352511, 5352512.