Thunderstorms developed over central Kansas the afternoon of the 29th and gradually spread east into northeast and east central Kansas in the early evening. Many became severe and produced numerous reports of large hail and damaging winds.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 episode as NWS TOP wrote it up.
Thunderstorms developed over central Kansas the afternoon of the 29th and gradually spread east into northeast and east central Kansas in the early evening. Many became severe and produced numerous reports of large hail and damaging winds.
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 Feb 29, 3:10 PM CST, 3 hours 32 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KANSAS 3 PM SUN FEB 29 2004 .DISCUSSION... LATEST SATELLITE SHOWING STRONG NEGATIVE TILT SHORTWAVE ROTATING OUT TO THE NORTHEAST ACROSS NORTHERN OK/SOUTHERN KS PROGGED TO LIFT ACROSS THE CWA BY EARLY THIS EVENING AS UPPER LOW LIFTS NORTHEAST ACROSS WESTCENTRAL KANSAS AND INTO SOUTHERN NEBRASKA MONDAY MORNING. CURRENT LARGE SHIELD OF SHOWERS AND A FEW EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE ENTIRE CWA SHOULD DECREASE FROM SOUTH TO NORTH ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THE EVENING AS DRY SLOT NOSES NORTHWARD. ALTHOUGH THE MAIN AREA OF PRECIP WILL LIFT NORTH OF THE CWA BY LATER THIS EVENING...A NEW AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER NORTHWEST OK MAY ALSO DEVELOP AND SPREAD NORTHEAST WITH THE COLD POOL INTO THE SOUTHWEST PORTIONS OF THE CWA THIS EVENING...THEN THE THREAT FOR WRAPAROUND SHOWERS MOVES BACK ACROSS THE NORTHWEST AREAS OF THE CWA AFTER MIDNIGHT AS UPPER LOW LIFTS TO THE NORTH. ALTHOUGH LOW LEVEL THICKNESSES APPEAR TOO WARM FOR SNOW...MID LEVEL THICKNESS WILL BE COLD ENOUGH FOR SNOW OVER THE NORTH CENTRAL AFTER MIDNIGHT AND WITH LOWS LATER IN THE NIGHT IN THE 30S...CANT RULE OUT SOME SNOW MAKING IT THE GROUND WITH ANY PRECIP THAT WOULD WRAP INTO THE AREA. WILL KEEP WINDS GUSTS TO AROUND 35 MPH GOING IN STRONG GRADIENT. AS THE UPPER LOW MOVES EAST AND NORTHEAST OF THE CWA ON MONDAY...STILL HAVE A CHANCE TO SEE A RAIN/SNOW MIX POSSIBLE ACROSS THE NORTH IN THE MORNING WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE AS FAR SOUTH AS I-70...THEN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN LINGERING OVER THE FAR NORTHEAST IN THE AFTERNOON. WILL KEEP HIGHS A LITTLE BELOW GUIDANCE DUE TO EXPECTED LOW CLOUDS ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA WRAPPING AROUND THE LOW. WIND GUSTS WILL REMAIN IN THE 30-40 MPH RANGE MOST AREAS. PRECIP THREAT ENDS ACROSS THE ENTIRE CWA BY MONDAY EVENING AS UPPER LOW PULLS AWAY...ALTHOUGH CLOUDS WILL BE SLOW TO GIVE WAY INTO TUESDAY. NEXT SHORTWAVE TROUGH BEGINS TO DIG INTO THE SOUTHWEST U.S. AND BEGINS TO AFFECT THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA LATE TUESDAY NIGHT WITH A CHANCE FOR RAIN. APPEARS THICKNESSES COLD ENOUGH FOR SNOW WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE NORTHERN CWA ONLY BY THAT TIME WITH WAA THEN UNDERWAY THROUGH THE DAY WEDNESDAY BEFORE COLD AIR MOVES BACK IN BY THURSDAY MORNING AND THROUGH THE DAY. WILL THEREFORE KEEP PRECIP AS RAIN ACROSS THE CWA LATE TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY WITH A CHANCE FOR A MIXTURE OF RAIN OR SNOW NORTHWEST HALF WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND OVER THE ENTIRE AREA BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON AS CAA WITHIN AREA OF HEIGHTS FALLS FROM ADVANCING TROUGH MOVES THROUGH. FOR NOW...EXPECT PRECIP TO END BY THURSDAY EVENING...THEN DRY ON INTO THE WEEKEND AS CENTRAL ROCKIES SHORTWAVE ON FRIDAY EXPECTED TO STAY MAINLY SOUTH OF THE CWA. TEMPERATURES SHOULD MODERATE INTO THE UPPER 40S AND LOWER 50S BY THE WEEKEND. && .TOP...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 435 PM CST SUN FEB 29 2004 KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-011100- ANDERSON-BROWN-CLAY-CLOUD-COFFEY-DICKINSON-DOUGLAS-FRANKLIN-GEARY- JACKSON-JEFFERSON-LYON-MARSHALL-MORRIS-NEMAHA-OSAGE-OTTAWA- POTTAWATOMIE-REPUBLIC-RILEY-SHAWNEE-WABAUNSEE-WASHINGTON- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ABILENE...CLAY CENTER...CONCORDIA... EMPORIA...HIAWATHA...JUNCTION CITY...LAWRENCE...MANHATTAN... MARYSVILLE...OTTAWA AND TOPEKA 435 PM CST SUN FEB 29 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL...NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. A FEW OF THE STORMS COULD BRIEFLY BECOME SEVERE...WITH DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL. ANY STORMS THAT OCCUR SHOULD WEAKEN BY 8 PM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SOME SNOW MAY FALL OVER PARTS OF THE AREA...MAINLY TO THE NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70...FROM ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM MOVING INTO THE PLAINS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. HOWEVER, IT IS TOO EARLY TO SAY JUST HOW MUCH SNOW THIS NEXT SYSTEM MAY BRING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS MAY STILL BE NEEDED THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE: HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/TOP (ALL LOWER CASE)
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
518 PM CST SUN FEB 29 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0330 PM TSTM WND DMG 3 SE JUNCTION CITY 39.00N 96.79W
02/29/2004 GEARY KS EMERGENCY MNGR
2 OUTBUILDINGS DESTROYED.
&&
DSPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
554 PM CST SUN FEB 29 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0552 PM HAIL 1 NW TESCOTT 39.02N 97.89W
02/29/2004 0.75 INCH OTTAWA KS TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
DSPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
607 PM CST SUN FEB 29 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0602 PM HAIL ADA 39.15N 97.89W
02/29/2004 1.00 INCH OTTAWA KS TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
DSPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT ... CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
637 PM CST SUN FEB 29 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0630 PM HAIL 7 SE GLASCO 39.28N 97.75W
02/29/2004 1.00 INCH OTTAWA KS TRAINED SPOTTER
0625 PM HAIL 5 SE GLASCO 39.31N 97.77W
02/29/2004 0.88 INCH CLOUD KS TRAINED SPOTTER
0602 PM HAIL ADA 39.15N 97.89W
02/29/2004 1.00 INCH OTTAWA KS TRAINED SPOTTER
0552 PM HAIL 1 NW TESCOTT 39.02N 97.89W
02/29/2004 0.75 INCH OTTAWA KS TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
DSThe Topeka radar (KTWX), 127 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:41 UTC.
4 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong winds damaged a farmstead and destroyed several outbuildings, a corral, and cattle feeder.
strong winds destroyed several outbuildings and a shed at a farmstead. A shed and pickup camper in it were also destroyed.
A large tree was uprooted.
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, February 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: 5385728, 5385836, 5385837, 5385838, 5385839, 5385840, 5385841.