Flash Flood and Hail in Kansas, May 18, 2004

Name: Flash Flood and Hail in Kansas, May 18, 2004
Start: 2004-05-18T04:07
End: 2004-05-18T10:08
Location: Kansas

May 18, 2004 · NWS TOP · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

2 hail, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

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.

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: 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 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 May 17, 3:10 PM CST, 12 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 17, 3:10 PM CST, 12 hours 57 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
410 PM CDT MON MAY 17 2004

.DISCUSSION...
UPPER PATTERN CONDUCIVE TO PERIODS OF STRONG CONVECTION WITH SOME
LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN NEXT 48 HOURS. FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR ALL THE
AREA TONIGHT WITH SLOW MOVING FRONT AND MOIST INFLOW TO SAME WITH
CELLS MOVING OVER MUCH THE SAME AREA OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF
TIME. FIRST UPPER WAVE ON RUCII MOVING INTO THE AREA THIS
EVENING...THEN FAIRLY STRONG (AT LEAST STRONGER THAN MODELS SHOW)
WAVE INTO THE SOUTHWEST STATES THIS EVENING AND APPROACHING AREA ON
TUESDAY. TRICKY FORECAST WITH TEMPERATURES ON TUESDAY. FRONT SETTLES
INTO THE AREA WITH LOTS OF CLOUDS ESPECIALLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70.
SHOULD WE RECEIVE LITTLE OR NO SUN THIS AREA ON
TUESDAY...TEMPERATURES NOT LIKELY TO GET TOO FAR INTO THE 60S. FOR
NOW...WILL PLAN ON A BIT OF AFTERNOON SUN TO RAISE TEMPERATURES INTO
THE 60S AND LOWER 70S. THIS SUBJECT TO CHANGE DEPENDING ON WHERE
FRONT AND ASSOCIATED OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM TONIGHTS CONVECTION
LIES TUESDAY FORENOON.

REST OF WEEK SHOWS GRADUAL WARMING ALOFT TO A CAPPING STATE BY LATE
IN THE WEEK. MAY BE ENOUGH TO SHUT OF THUNDERSTORM RISK FOR A COUPLE
OF DAYS BEFORE ANOTHER FRONT MOVES INTO THE AREA LATE IN THE WEEKEND
OR EARLY NEXT WEEK. THIS WILL AGAIN INCREASE PRECIPITATION CHANCES
AND LOWER TEMPERATURES.

&&

.TOP...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT ALL
COUNTIES.

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, May 17, 10:10 PM CST, 5 hours 57 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED TO REMOVE EXTRA WORDING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1110 PM CDT MON MAY 17 2004

KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-181000-
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
1110 PM CDT MON MAY 17 2004

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

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL EXPECTED TONIGHT...MAINLY IN NORTHERN
PORTIONS OF THE AREA. A FEW MAY BE SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS. HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE
TONIGHT...GENERALLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70...AND A FLOOD WATCH
REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THIS AREA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE AGAIN
TUESDAY...WITH SOME CHANCE FOR MORE THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY INTO
MONDAY. HOWEVER...AFTER TUESDAY...THE BEST CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS
WOULD BE SUNDAY AND MONDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT. SPOTTERS ARE ALSO ENCOURAGED TO
REPORT RAINFALL AMOUNTS TO THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE.

&&

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

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 98 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:05 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Dickinson

When: May 18, 4:07 AM CST
Where: Dickinson County, 1 mi S of Carlton
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.667, -97.283

Flash Flood, Clay

When: May 18, 5:40 AM CST to 6:15 AM CST
Where: Clay County, Morganville
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.350, -97.165 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Runoff from heavy rains flooded roads for a time.

Hail, Wabaunsee

When: May 18, 10:08 AM CST
Where: Wabaunsee County, Eskridge
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.850, -96.100

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Kansas, May 2004

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: 5399177, 5399178, 5399179.