Hail in Kansas, May 4, 2003

Name: Hail in Kansas, May 4, 2003
Start: 2003-05-04T13:57
End: 2003-05-04T15:36
Location: Kansas

May 4, 2003 · NWS GID · 5 events in 3 counties and zones

Thunderstorms rumbled south from Nebraska and dropped dime to nickel size hail in Jewell, Mitchell and Rooks counties.

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: None recorded
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 happened

The episode as NWS GID wrote it up.

Thunderstorms rumbled south from Nebraska and dropped dime to nickel size hail in Jewell, Mitchell and Rooks counties.

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 4, 1:39 PM CST, 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 4, 1:39 PM CST, 18 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
239 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX MOVING THRU THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON SO LIMITED
AFD. STRONG UPPER LEVEL LOW PASSING THRU THE PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON.
SFC LOW REFLECTION CURRENTLY SITUATED NEAR NEB/KS BORDER
ACCOMPANIED BY AN UNSTABLE AIR MASS AHEAD OF A SOUTHWARD EXTENDING
DRY LINE THRU CENTRAL KS. MOIST FLOW OUT OF THE SOUTH HELPING TO
MAINTAIN COMPLEX AS IT MOVES EAST.

WILL MENTION LEFT OVER SHOWERS THRU THE EVENING HOURS TONIGHT.
OTHERWISE...ANTICIPATE DRY WEATHER THRU MOST OF THIS WEEK UNTIL
NEXT WEST COAST UPPER LOW TRAVELS THRU THE PLAINS BY LATE IN THE
WEEK. IT APPEARS GULF MOISTURE AVAILABLE AGAIN FOR NEEDED PCPN.

.GID...NONE.

DEE

Hazardous weather outlook, May 4, 10:23 AM CST, 3 hours 34 minutes before

KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-051200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1123 AM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

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

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP ALONG AND EAST OF
THE U S 281 CORRIDOR TOWARD OR SHORTLY AFTER THE NOON HOUR. SOME OF
THESE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE WITH VERY LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED
DAMAGING WINDS POSSIBLE. IN ADDITION...AN ISOLATED TORNADO IS
POSSIBLE ALONG AND SOUTH OF A FRANKLIN TO YORK LINE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.

MORE THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST FOR THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
SATURDAY AS ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON EAST
OF U S HIGHWAY 281.

T

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 4, 1:07 PM CST, 50 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
207 PM CDT SUN MAY 04 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0125 PM    2 SW AXTELL               NE    .75 INCH HAIL
05/04/03   KEARNEY                         LAW ENFORCEMENT
                                           REPORTED HAIL ALONG
                                           HIGHWAY 6 AND HIGHWAY
                                           34 ALONG THE KEARNEY
                                           AND PHELPS COUNTY LINES.

Local storm report, May 4, 1:12 PM CST, 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
212 PM CDT SUN MAY 04 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0206 PM    GILTNER                   NE    .75 INCH HAIL
05/04/03   HAMILTON

Local storm report, May 4, 1:20 PM CST, 37 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
220 PM CDT SUN MAY 04 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0210 PM    GILTNER                   NE    .88 INCH HAIL
05/04/03   HAMILTON

Local storm report, May 4, 1:22 PM CST, 35 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
222 PM CDT SUN MAY 04 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0137 PM    4 N HASTINGS              NE    .88 INCH HAIL
05/04/03   ADAMS                           HASTINGS NATIONAL
                                           WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE
                                           REPORT.

Local storm report, May 4, 1:32 PM CST, 25 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
232 PM CDT SUN MAY 04 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0133 PM    GENOA                     NE    .75 INCH HAIL
05/04/03   NANCE

Local storm report, May 4, 1:50 PM CST, 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
250 PM CDT SUN MAY 04 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0240 PM    BRADSHAW                  NE    70 MPH TSTM GUST
05/04/03   YORK

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Jewell

When: May 4, 1:57 PM CST
Where: Jewell County, 5 mi E of Ionia
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.667, -98.250

Hail, Jewell

When: May 4, 2:44 PM CST
Where: Jewell County, Jewell
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.667, -98.150

Hail, Rooks

When: May 4, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Rooks County, Plainville
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.233, -99.300

Hail, Mitchell

When: May 4, 3:20 PM CST
Where: Mitchell County, Beloit
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 39.467, -98.117

Hail, Mitchell

When: May 4, 3:36 PM CST
Where: Mitchell County, 2 mi E of Beloit
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.467, -98.083

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: 5366267, 5366268, 5366269, 5366270, 5366271.