1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 15, 7:17 PM MST, 3 hours 43 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 817 PM MDT SUN AUG 15 2004 .DISCUSSION...COMPOSITE RADAR TRENDS AND RUC INDICATE THAT WESTERN NEBRASKA CONVECTION WILL GRADUALLY MOVE SOUTHEAST ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. CONSEQUENTLY HAVE UPDATED GRIDS AND ZONES TO INCLUDE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVERNIGHT. && .GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KS...NONE. NE...NONE. CO...NONE. && FS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 1045 AM MDT SUN AUG 15 2004 COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-161200- CHEYENNE KS-CHEYENNE COUNTY CO-DECATUR KS-DUNDY NE-GOVE KS-GRAHAM KS- GREELEY KS-HITCHCOCK NE-KIT CARSON COUNTY CO-LOGAN KS-NORTON KS- RAWLINS KS-RED WILLOW NE-SHERIDAN KS-SHERMAN KS-THOMAS KS-WALLACE KS- WICHITA KS-YUMA COUNTY CO- 1045 AM MDT SUN AUG 15 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST KANSAS...EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED STRONG AND POSSIBLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AFTER 3 PM MDT...MAINLY WEST OF A LINE FROM BENKELMAN NEBRASKA TO KIT CARSON COLORADO. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT. ANY ACTIVITY THAT DEVELOPS WILL DISSIPATE BY EARLY EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY MONDAY IS EXPECTED TO BE A QUIET WEATHER DAY WITH A FRONTAL BOUNDARY BECOMING THE FOCUS FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE STORMS TUESDAY WILL BE IN THE VICINITY OF THE KANSAS AND NEBRASKA BORDER AND POINTS NORTH. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK WITH CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING THE PRIMARY THREAT AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED AFTER 330 PM MDT FOR PARTS OF FAR EASTERN COLORADO. DDT/MWM
The Goodland radar (KGLD), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:59 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning stuck a rural farm house 3 miles south of Wheeler, KS during the night. The house burned completely to the ground. The house was built in 1895 but had been remodeled several times over the years.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, August 2004
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: 5419350.