Flash Flooding and Flood in Kansas, September 10 to 11, 2003

Name: Flash Flooding and Flood in Kansas, September 10 to 11, 2003
Start: 2003-09-10T20:27
End: 2003-09-11T01:40
Location: Kansas

September 10 to 11, 2003 · NWS TOP · 5 events in 3 counties and zones

2 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 flood, 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: 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 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 Sep 10, 1:56 PM CST, 6 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 10, 1:56 PM CST, 6 hours 31 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KANSAS
256 PM CDT WED SEP 10 2003

MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE IS PRECIPITATION INTO THE WEEKEND.

LATEST WATER VAPOR LOOP HAS THE UPPER TROUGH OVER THE MOUNTAIN
STATES WITH SHORTWAVE ENERGY ROTATING NORTHEAST INTO THE PLAINS. 50
TO 55 KT JET FROM SOUTHWEST KANSAS INTO NORTHEAST NEBRASKA. SURFACE
MOISTURE AXIS BISECTS CENTRAL KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON. SURFACE TROUGH
EXTENDS FROM LOW OVER WESTERN SD INTO NORTHEAST COLORADO.

MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY AXIS ACROSS WESTERN ANDS CENTRAL KANSAS
THIS AFTERNOON TO REMAIN ACROSS CENTRAL KANSAS TONIGHT. WITH UPPER
TROUGH MOVING SLOWLY EAST AND GOOD DIFFLUENCE AND DEEP MOISTURE WILL
LIKELY SEE HEAVY RAIN THREAT ACROSS CENTRAL KANSAS TONIGHT THEN
SHIFTING SLOWLY EAST ON THURSDAY. MODEL SOLUTIONS DIFFER WITH
RESPECT TO THE PROGRESSION OF THE UPPER SYSTEM WITH THE GFS FASTER
THAN THE ETA AND CANADIAN MODELS. WILL LEAN TOWARD THE TIMING OF THE
ETA AND CANADIAN MODELS FOR THIS EVENT. FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE VALUES
ARE LOW ACROSS PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS WHERE CONVECTION HAS
BEEN PREVALENT OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS. AFTER COORDINATION WILL
ISSUE A FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT THROUGH MID DAY THURSDAY FOR PARTS OF
NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS WHERE ELEVATED STREAM FLOW OR FLOODING IS MOST
LIKELY.

WITH AXIS OF HEAVIER RAINFALL FORECAST TO SPREAD EAST ON THURSDAY
WILL INCREASE CHANCES OF RAIN OVER CURRENT FORECAST. SURFACE COLD
FRONT TO MOVE SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE CWA ON THURSDAY AND THURSDAY
EVENING AS UPPER TROUGH MOVES EAST ACROSS KANSAS. EXPECT FOCUS OF
MOISTURE ADVECTION AHEAD OF FRONT THURSDAY AFTERNOON WITH ENHANCED
DYNAMIC LIFT ACROSS EASTERN KANSAS AND WESTERN MISSOURI.

DEPENDING ON THE SPEED OF THE UPPER LOWS MOVEMENT ACROSS THE PLAINS
PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL LINGER INTO THE DAY ON SATURDAY. IF
SLIGHTLY FASTER THEN ONLY EASTERN COUNTIES SHOULD SEE RAIN COME
SATURDAY.

IN THE EXTENDED A SECONDARY COOL FRONT SLIDES THROUGH ON SATURDAY
AFTERNOON WITH 850 MB TEMPERATURES COOLING TO AROUND 8 DEGREES
CELSIUS AT 850 MB BY SATURDAY NIGHT. COOL DAY EXPECTED ON SUNDAY
WITH HIGHS IN THE LOW TO MID 70S. HEIGHTS RISE MONDAY THROUGH
WEDNESDAY WITH A GRADUAL WARMUP INTO MID WEEK.

.TOP...FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT THROUGH NOON THURSDAY FOR A PART OF
       NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.

53

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 10, 2:56 PM CST, 5 hours 31 minutes before

KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-111030-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
356 PM CDT WED SEP 10 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL...NORTHEAST AND
EAST CENTRAL KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TONIGHT ACROSS THE AREA. SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE MAINLY WEST OF A HIAWATHA TO COUNCIL
GROVE LINE. IN ADDITION...HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE WEST OF A
MARYSVILLE TO CLAY CENTER TO MINNEAPOLIS LINE. RUNOFF FROM STORMS IN
THESE AREAS MAY CAUSE FLOODING. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND EVEN
AN ISOLATED TORNADO ARE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

THUNDERSTORMS ARE AGAIN LIKELY THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. HEAVY
RAINFALL AND DEADLY LIGHTNING WILL BE THE MAIN HAZARDS.
FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS ON
THURSDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS MAY BE NEEDED THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT.

&&

MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE:
   HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/TOP  (ALL LOWER CASE)

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:24 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Republic

When: September 10, 8:27 PM CST
Where: Republic County, Munden
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.917, -97.500

Thunderstorm Wind, Cloud

When: September 10, 8:33 PM CST
Where: Cloud County, 6 mi S of Jamestown
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.517, -97.867

Flood, Republic

When: September 10, 8:53 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Republic forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.828, -97.651 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Water was reported briefly over the roadway south of Courtland.

Flash Flood, Cloud

When: September 10, 9:26 PM CST to 11:46 PM CST
Where: Cloud County, 5 mi W of Concordia
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.480, -97.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rains caused runoff that overflowed highway 28 and caused it to be closed for several hours.

Flash Flood, Ottawa

When: September 11, 1:30 AM CST to 1:40 AM CST
Where: Ottawa County, Delphos
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 39.133, -97.650 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Runoff from heavy rains caused flooding in northwestern Republic county for a time.

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.
Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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, September 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: 5368397, 5368398, 5368465, 5368466, 5368467.