Hail in Kansas, May 13, 2003

Name: Hail in Kansas, May 13, 2003
Start: 2003-05-13T03:28
End: 2003-05-13T05:50
Location: Kansas

May 13, 2003 · NWS GID · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

Early morning thunderstorms dumped hail across a part of north-central Kansas, including north of Kensington where penny size hail covered the ground to a depth of two inches.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: $25,000
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.

Early morning thunderstorms dumped hail across a part of north-central Kansas, including north of Kensington where penny size hail covered the ground to a depth of two inches.

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 May 13, 1:26 AM CST, 2 hours 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 13, 1:26 AM CST, 2 hours 2 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
226 AM CDT TUE MAY 13 2003

LATEST WV SATL PIX REVEALING POTENT UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM STATIONED OFF
THE WEST COAST INVOF RUSH OF PACIFIC SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE INTO THE
SOUTHWESTERN CONUS. ACROSS THE PLAINS...MODEST RIDGING WAS IN
PLACE. AT THE SURFACE...UNORGANIZED HIGH PRESSURE COVERED THE MID
SECTION OF THE COUNTRY. SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE WAS CONFINED TO THE
SOUTHERN GULF STATES PER LATEST PRECIP WATER PLOT.

LATEST SWODY1 FROM SPC KEEPS OUR CWA IN A SLGT RISK FOR SEVERE
WEATHER THRU 12Z/14 AS THE LATEST MODELS ADVERTISE A POTENT SHORT
WAVE TO PASS THROUGH THE DAKOTAS LATER THIS AFTER/EVENING...PROMPTING
SURFACE LOW PRESSURE TO DEEPEN INVOF SW SD/NW NEB...WITH DEVELOPING
SURFACE WARM FRONT ACROSS THE SD/NEB BORDER AND ASSOCIATED COLD
FRONT EXTENDING SOUTHWEST ALONG THE HIGH PLAINS. SOUTHERLY FLOW IS
EXPECTED TO ADVECT MOISTURE NORTHWARD INTO THE PLAINS THROUGH THE
DAY AS PER MODEL BLYR MOISTURE TRANSPORT VECTORS. LATER THIS
AFTERNOON...THE COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO SWING THROUGH NEB WITH
UNORGANIZED CONVECTION FIRING BY LATE AFTERNOON. STEEP 700MB-500MB
LAPSE RATES SUGGEST LARGE HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS MAIN THREAT.

THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN POSSIBLE LATE THURSDAY NIGHT OVER THE PLAINS WITH
LEFT OVER SHOWERS FRIDAY MORNING. MODELS DEPICT ANOTHER POTENT SHORT
WAVE...BUT SHOW IT PASSING QUITE SOUTH OF THE AREA. SLGT POPS
PROBABLY MOST REASONABLE FOR NOW.

OTHERWISE...DRY THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH MORE POPS DAY 7 AS MODELS
ADVERTISE A STALLED BOUNDARY ACROSS THE REGION.

.GID...NONE.

DEE

Hazardous weather outlook, May 12, 11:00 AM CST, 16 hours 28 minutes before

KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-131200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1200 PM CDT MON MAY 12 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS OR PERHAPS A THUNDERSTORM ARE POSSIBLE
AFTER 300 AM IN THE MORNING...MAINLY OVER NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS...IN
RESPONSE TO A DEVELOPING LOW LEVEL JET LATER TONIGHT...AND PASSING
UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE. HOWEVER NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED
WITH ANY OF THIS ACTIVITY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH
WEDNESDAY MORNING...AS BOTH AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE AND SURFACE
FRONT ROLL THROUGH SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.
A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND
STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

10

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 141 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:30 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Rooks

When: May 13, 3:28 AM CST
Where: Rooks County, Plainville
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.233, -99.300

Hail, Rooks

When: May 13, 3:45 AM CST
Where: Rooks County, 7 mi E of Codell
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.200, -99.050

Hail, Smith

When: May 13, 5:50 AM CST
Where: Smith County, 9 mi N of Kensington
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.900, -99.033

What these are

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, May 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: 5366275, 5366276, 5366277.