Hail in Kansas, April 29, 2003

Name: Hail in Kansas, April 29, 2003
Start: 2003-04-29T19:20
End: 2003-04-29T20:00
Location: Kansas

April 29, 2003 · NWS GID · 3 events in 1 county or zone

More thunderstorms later in the day hit parts of northern Smith county. A large supercell thunderstorm produced many occurrences of funnel clouds, but no confirmed tornadoes.

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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

More thunderstorms later in the day hit parts of northern Smith county. A large supercell thunderstorm produced many occurrences of funnel clouds, but no confirmed tornadoes. Hail also pounded part of the region.

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, 12:30 PM CST, 6 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 29, 12:30 PM CST, 6 hours 50 minutes before

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

...POT SVR WX IS THE CONCERN OF THE DAY...

AREA OF CONCERN IS SFC FRONT STALLED ACRS NCNTRL KS THIS AFTN WITH
ST N OF THE BNDRY AND MID TO UPR 70S TEMPS OVER LOW 60S DPS TO THE
SOUTH.  LAPS HELICITIES IN EXCESS OF 300 M2/S2 WERE NOSING INTO
THIS JEWELL AND MITCHELL CNTIES AS OF 17Z.  VWP PLOTS AND PROFILERS
IND IND ERLY FLOW N OF THE FRONT IS SHALLOW WITH SOME ELEVATED TSRA
FORMING IMMEDIATELY N OF THE SFC FRONT.

SHOULD ALSO SEE SOME HIGH PLNS DVLPMNT AS THE AFTN/EVE PROGRESSES
WITH MSTR CNVRGNC IN UPSLOPE FLOW IN ADVN OF NXT SHRT MOVG OUT OF
THE FOUR CORNERS REGION.  TSRA CONSOLIDATION INTO ANOTHER MCS IND
FOR THE OVRNGT HR...WITH EWD MOVEMENT ALNG/JUST N OF 850 WARM/STNRY
FRNT WHICH IS EXPECTED TO BE STATIONED A BIT N OF THE +RA AREA FM
LAST NGTS SYS.

BOTTOM LINE IS THAT WE WL BE WATCHING THE SFC BNDRY THIS AFTN/EVE
FOR THE DREADED TOR WITH +TSRAGR AGAIN EXPECTED FOR THE OVRNGT HRS.

MINOR ADJUSTMENTS ONLY TO THE REST OF THE PACKAGE.

.GID...NONE.

09

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 29, 7:10 PM CST, 10 minutes before

KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-301200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
810 PM CDT TUE APR 29 2003

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

.DAY ONE...REST OF THE EVENING AND TONIGHT

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME MORE NUMEROUS TONIGHT AS THEY
DEVELOP ALONG A FRONTAL BOUNDARY ACROSS CENTRAL NEBRASKA...AND ALSO
ALONG A SECOND FRONTAL BOUNDARY NEAR THE NEBRASKA AND KANSAS BORDER.
THE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL THE SIZE OF QUARTERS
INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. THUNDERSTORMS ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE
NEBRASKA AND KANSAS BORDER MAY PRODUCE SOME TORNADOS.

VERY HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO EXPECTED FROM THE STORMS TONIGHT...AND
LOCALIZED FLOODING MAY OCCUR.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

ON WEDNESDAY...DEEP SURFACE LOW PRESSURE OVER CENTRAL KANSAS COMBINED
WITH STRONG UPPER LEVEL ENERGY MOVING EAST OF THE CENTRAL ROCKIES...
WILL BRING ANOTHER CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER ALONG A SURFACE
BOUNDARY OVER NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS AND SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.
THE ENVIRONMENT WILL BE VERY FAVORABLE FOR STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND A FEW
TORNADOES...MAINLY FOR AREAS EAST OF HIGHWAY 281.

THE CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT...THEN
THUNDERSTORM CHANCES RETURN AGAIN THIS WEEKEND.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED THE REST OF THE EVENING AND
TONIGHT.

FAY

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:58 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 funnel cloud, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Smith

When: April 29, 7:20 PM CST
Where: Smith County, Kensington
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.785, -98.785 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Funnel Cloud, Smith

When: April 29, 7:35 PM CST
Where: Smith County, Athol
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.785, -98.785 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Smith

When: April 29, 8:00 PM CST
Where: Smith County, Thornburg
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.950, -98.783

What these are

Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
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: 5352513, 5352592, 5352593.