An upper level low pressure system and associated frontal boundary stalled across the area for several days, resulting in periods of numerous and widespread heavy showers and thunderstorms across portions of south-central and southeast Kansas from early on the 27th until July 1st. Phenomenal rainfall totals occurred during this period, ranging anywhere from 8 inches, to as much as 20 inches,…
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 ICT wrote it up.
An upper level low pressure system and associated frontal boundary stalled across the area for several days, resulting in periods of numerous and widespread heavy showers and thunderstorms across portions of south-central and southeast Kansas from early on the 27th until July 1st. Phenomenal rainfall totals occurred during this period, ranging anywhere from 8 inches, to as much as 20 inches, heaviest across southeast Kansas. A few the most extreme and measured rainfall reports from June 28th - 30th were 18.29 inches at Fredonia, 12.47 inches at Independence, 11.70 inches at Iola, 9.18 inches at Chanute, 8.63 inches at Erie and 8.40 inches at Coffeyville. Excessive runoff produced widespread, catastrophic, record flooding across much of southeast Kansas, particularly in the vicinity of area rivers, streams and creeks. Hardest hit were the Verdigris and Fall Rivers, where record flooding was observed at Fall River, Independence and Coffeyville. The Neosho River was also hard hit with record flooding observed at Erie and major flooding observed at Chanute, Parsons and Oswego. Public, private and crop damage was extensive and at times severe. Hundreds to potentially a few thousand homes and businesses sustained severe flood damage, an incalculable number of roads were closed due to high water, and several bridges were either washed out or sustained damage. Thousands of acres of crops sustained severe damage. Thousands of miles of roads were damaged from the flood waters. Evacuations and water rescues were common, as several towns were for a time surrounded and/or engulfed by flood waters. Water became unsafe, as flood waters inundated water and sewage treatment plants. Thousands of residents were without power for an extended period of time. Several counties were declared federal disaster areas. Public and private damages likely exceeded hundreds of millions of dollars, but exact monetary values will be difficult to nearly impossible to determine. The flooding in Coffeyville enveloped the Coffeyville Resources Refinery. A malfunctioning pump lead to a 71,000 gallon crude oil spill into the Verdigris River, leaving an oily gunk on everything the oil touched, and contaminating the water for miles. One fatality occurred in Coffeyville, when a gentleman refused to evacuate his motel room, despite being warned twice by emergency officials of the impending flood.
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 Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 30, 9:19 PM CST, 2 hours 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 1019 PM CDT SAT JUN 30 2007 .UPDATE... RECORD AND POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC RIVER FLOODING IS OCCURRING ON THE VERDIGRIS RIVER...WHICH WILL AFFECT INDEPENDENCE AND COFFEYVILLE. AFTER COORDINATION WITH THE TULSA RFC...THE RECORD FORECAST STAGES WERE RAISED THIS EVENING. THIS COULD RESULT IN THE RIVER APPROACHING THE TOP OF THE LEVEE AT INDEPENDENCE...AND TOPPING THE LEVEE AT COFFEYVILLE. VERY HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUED TO FALL ACROSS EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS LATE THIS EVENING...AND IS EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP WITHIN THE DEFORMATION ZONE ACROSS THE FLINT HILLS AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS OVERNIGHT. THIS WILL RESULT IN THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINFALL AS FAR WEST AS THE TURNPIKE AGAIN. OTHERWISE...STRATUS AND FOG WILL DEVELOP WEST ACROSS CENTRAL KANSAS LATER TONIGHT. KED && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 801 PM CDT SAT JUN 30 2007/ AVIATION... FOR 00Z TAF SUITE... SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDER WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT SOUTHEAST KANSAS THROUGH MUCH OF THE FORECAST PERIOD. FURTHER WEST ACROSS CENTRAL KANSAS...IFR CIGS AND VSBYS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND EXPAND WEST IN THE MOIST EASTERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW LATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. KED PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 325 PM CDT SAT JUN 30 2007/ DISCUSSION... TONIGHT-MON: FLOODING AND PROBABILITY OF PRECIPITATION CONTINUE TO BE A BROKEN RECORD. SERIOUS THREAT AGAIN TONIGHT BUT DEFINITE DIFFERENCES IN SETUP. 1200 UTC UPPER AIR ANALYSIS SHOWS WELL DEFINED 850MB EAST/WEST BOUNDARY INTO LOW OVER NORTHWEST OK. CONVERGENCE INTO BOUNDARY AND WEAK MCV SUPPORTED MOST WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION ACROSS EASTERN KS TODAY. UNCAPPED WARM SECTOR COMBINED WITH A LITTLE BIT OF FILTERED SUN HAS RESULTED IN SLOWLY INCREASING RAIN SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE AFTERNOON. GLOBAL FORECAST SYSTEM MODEL APPEARS TO HAVE GOOD HANDLE OUT OF THE BOX AND WAS GENERALLY USED FOR THE SHORT TERM. NORTH AMERICAN MODEL SHOWING USUAL CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK PROBLEMS. 1000-2000 CAPES POSSIBLE IN WARM SECTOR...BUT PRIMARY THREAT IS DEFINITELY TROPICAL/TORRENTIAL RAIN. BELIEVE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION MAY OCCUR NEAR ICT/TOP BORDER IN SOUTHEAST KS...AND AM NOT CONVINCED BOUNDARY WILL SAG AS FAR SOUTH AS SOME OTHER MODELS SUGGEST. LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE MAY NOT BE AS GOOD AS LAST NIGHT...BUT THERE IS NOTHING TO REALLY STOP THE PRECIPITATION EITHER. WITH TROPICAL RAINFALL RATES...EVEN SCATTERED PRECIPITATION WILL ADD UP...UNFORTUNATELY IN AREAS ALREADY EXPERIENCING RECORD FLOODING. AS FOR QUANTITATIVE PRECIPITATION FORECAST...ANTICIPATE AMOUNTS AROUND 2 INCHES LIKELY ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHEAST KS BY 12 UTC SUN BUT WITH SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER LOCAL AMOUNTS IN CONVECTIVE CORES AND TRAINING. INCREASED PROBABILITY OF PRECIPITATION ON SUN AND INTO MON AS IT APPEARS THIS LOW WILL NOT BE MOVING OUT VERY QUICKLY. TEMPERATURES TRIMMED BACK A BIT DUE TO CLOUDS/ PRECIPITATION. WED-SAT: WHILE OVERALL PATTERN REMAINS UNCHANGED FROM YESTERDAY AND MODELS QUITE CONSISTENT ON LONG WAVE PATTERN DURING THIS PERIOD...THE ACTUAL DETAILS OF THE FORECAST ARE PROBLEMATIC. RIPPLES IN NORTHWEST FLOW AND COPIOUS MOISTURE IN OR JUST SOUTH OF THE AREA WILL LEAD TO PERIODIC BOUTS OF THUNDERSTORMS. APPEARS UNLIKELY THAT TEMPERATURES ALOFT WILL WARM ENOUGH TO COMPLETELY NIX PRECIPITATION. NOT ENTIRELY CONVINCED ON FRONTAL PASSAGE TIMING... BUT SHOULD SEE EITHER MCS/FRONTAL PASSAGE LATE WED/EARLY THU. ADDITIONAL WAVES EVIDENT ON FRI/SAT FROM BOTH EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR MEDIUM RANGE WEATHER FORECASTS MODEL/GLOBAL FORECAST SYSTEM MODEL...BUT SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN TIMING. AS EARLY AS 0000 UTC SAT EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR MEDIUM RANGE WEATHER FORECASTS MODEL SURGES 850MB MOISTURE UP HIGH PLAINS IN RESPONSE TO LEE TROUGHING WITH FAVORABLE UPSLOPE HIGH PLAINS MCS REGIME. TEMPERED MAXES ACROSS FLOODED AREAS OF SOUTHEAST KS WHERE MOIST GROUND WILL RESULT IN SLIGHTLY MORE COOLER TEMPERATURES DUE TO EVAPORATION AND INCREASED CUMULUS. -HOWERTON AVIATION... WITH LITTLE CHANGES FROM 24HRS AGO...PERSISTENCE WILL BE THE RULE. BASED ON LATEST TRENDS...INSTRUMENT FLIGHT RULES CONDITIONS ARE LIKELY ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT AND THROUGH AT LEAST 1800 UTC SUN. HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOST LIKELY AT KICT AND KCNU WITH SLIGHTLY LESS CHANCES AT KSLN/KRSL/KHUT. WITH MOIST UPSLOPE FLOW ON SUN...DO NOT ANTICIPATE QUICK CLEARING AT ANY LOCATION. -HOWERTON && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... WICHITA-KICT 66 78 66 84 / 60 50 20 20 HUTCHINSON 64 79 66 84 / 50 40 20 10 NEWTON 65 76 66 84 / 60 50 20 10 ELDORADO 66 77 66 83 / 80 60 30 20 WINFIELD-KWLD 68 80 67 83 / 90 60 30 20 RUSSELL 62 81 65 86 / 20 10 10 10 GREAT BEND 63 80 66 85 / 20 20 10 10 SALINA 63 81 65 85 / 40 30 10 10 MCPHERSON 64 79 66 84 / 50 40 20 10 COFFEYVILLE 70 79 67 83 / 100 80 50 20 CHANUTE 67 79 66 83 / 100 70 40 20 IOLA 66 79 66 83 / 100 70 40 20 PARSONS-KPPF 68 79 67 82 / 100 80 40 20 && .ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING FOR KSZ052-053-068>072- 083-092>096-098>100. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 950 PM CDT SAT JUN 30 2007 KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-020400- RUSSELL-LINCOLN-BARTON-ELLSWORTH-SALINE-RICE-MCPHERSON-MARION-CHASE- RENO-HARVEY-BUTLER-GREENWOOD-WOODSON-ALLEN-KINGMAN-SEDGWICK-HARPER- SUMNER-COWLEY-ELK-WILSON-NEOSHO-CHAUTAUQUA-MONTGOMERY-LABETTE- 950 PM CDT SAT JUN 30 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL KANSAS... SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT VERY SERIOUS OR RECORD FLOODING IS OCCURRING OVER PARTS OF SOUTHEAST KANSAS. SEE THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENTS AND WARNINGS FOR DETAILS ON THE RIVER FLOODING. FLOOD OR FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND ALL OF SOUTHEAST KANSAS DUE TO THE FLOODING OF LOW AREAS...CREEKS AND STREAMS. THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL OVERNIGHT IS EXPECTED TO BE ALONG AND EAST OF HIGHWAY 75...WHERE TWO OR MORE INCHES OF RAIN IS LIKELY. PATCHY FOG IS POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT ACROSS PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS. VISIBILITIES COULD DROP AS LOW AS ONE MILE IN SOME LOCATIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY MORE HEAVY RAINFALL IS ANTICIPATED FOR PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS ON SUNDAY. THIS WILL LIKELY AGGRAVATE ONGOING FLOODING. SEE THE LATEST FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION. RIVER FLOODING WILL ALSO CONTINUE ALONG THE VERDIGRIS...NOSH AND WALNUT RIVERS ON SUNDAY AND INTO MONDAY. SEE THE LATEST FLOOD WARNINGS FOR MORE INFORMATION. THE THREAT FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ON MONDAY OVER MUCH OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS. HEAVY RAIN WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND THURSDAY NIGHT. SOME OF STORMS MAY BECOME STRONG WITH MORE HEAVY RAINFALL EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED...HOWEVER REPORTS OF FLOODING OR HEAVY RAINFALL WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. && FOR A GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS INFORMATION...SEE OUR WEBPAGE AT (LOWERCASE) HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/WICHITA/HWO/HWO.PHP
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
851 PM CDT SAT JUN 30 2007
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0843 PM HEAVY RAIN IOLA 37.93N 95.40W
06/30/2007 M11.00 INCH ALLEN KS TRAINED SPOTTER
11 INCHES OF RAINFALL MEASURED IN THE LAST 24 HOURS NEAR
IOLA.
&&
CDJPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1146 PM CDT SAT JUN 30 2007
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1114 PM FLASH FLOOD 4 N CHANUTE 37.73N 95.46W
06/30/2007 ALLEN KS EMERGENCY MNGR
WATER ACROSS HIGHWAY 169 JUST WEST OF THE HUMBOLDT /
CHANUTE EXIT. THIS IS ALONG THE NEOSHO / ALLEN COUNTY
LINE.
&&
CDBThe Tulsa radar (KINX), 120 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:00 UTC.
12 flood, 9 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Extremely heavy rainfall from the end of June into early July caused flash flooding throughout Chautauqua County. This resulted in roughly 48 thousand dollars in damage.
Extremely heavy rainfall from the end of June into early July caused flash flooding throughout Cowley County. The flash flooding and the ensuing river flooding resulted in roughly 320 thousand dollars in damage. Major flooding was observed on the Walnut River at Winfield with a crest of 35.79 feet recorded the evening of July 1st. This was 17.79 feet above flood stage. The Walnut River at Winfield remained above flood stage until July 3rd. Moderate flooding was also observed on the Walnut River and the Arkansas River at Arkansas City.
Extremely heavy rainfall from the end of June into early July caused flash flooding throughout Elk County. The flooding damaged or destroyed around 400 houses. This led 12 to 42 million dollars in damage. An awesome 21.49 inches of rain fell during the month of June. Much of this fell during the last few days of the month.
Extremely heavy rainfall from the end of June into early July caused flash flooding throughout Labette County. The flash flooding and the ensuing river flooding resulted in 2 homes being destroyed and 11 others suffering major damage. This resulted in roughly 540 thousand dollars in damage. Major flooding was observed at Parsons and Oswego. Parsons recorded a crest of 35.05 feet while Oswego recorded a crest of 30.0 feet. These crests were 14.05 feet and 13 feet above flood stage respectively. The Neosho fell blow flood stage on the July 7th at both locations.
Extremely heavy rainfall from the end of June into early July caused flash flooding throughout Montgomery County. The hardest hit areas were Independence and Coffeyville. The flash flooding combined with the ensuing record river flooding along the Verdigris River led to at least 500 homes being destroyed with another 55 sustaining major damages. Businesses in the county reported 23 million in losses and the cost to public infrastructure resulted in another 4 million in damages. Additionally, 43,000 acres of cropland were flooded. The Verdigris River also overtopped a levee protecting the refinery in Coffeyville resulting in an oily toxic mess that inundated areas downstream. The Verdigris River at Independence crested at 52.4 feet in the morning hours of July 1st. This was 22.4 feet above flood stage. At Coffeyville the river crested at 30.7 feet the evening of July 1st which is 12.7 above flood stage. Again, both of these crests were records. The river remained above flood stage for both cities until July 7th. Unfortunately there was one fatality. A 55 year old man was found in the Budget Inn in Coffeyville. An autopsy revealed that the individual died as a result of drowning. This tragedy was compounded by the fact that the individual was warned twice that floodwaters would inundate the hotel but on both occasions the individual refused to leave. The Coffeyville Journal and the Arkansas City Traveler contributed to this report.
Extremely heavy rainfall from the end of June into early July caused flash flooding throughout Allen County. The flash flooding and the ensuing river flooding caused an estimated 3 million dollars in damages to private property and 3 million dollars in damage to public infrastructure. Additionally, the flood water damaged and estimated 8,000 acres of crops. Moderate flooding occurred on the Neosho River with a crest of 26.9 feet recorded at Iola. This was 11.9 feet above flood stage. The river remained above flood stage until the afternoon of July 3rd.
Extremely heavy rainfall from the end of June into early July caused flash flooding throughout Neosho County. The flash flooding and the ensuing river flooding resulted in roughly 100 homes being destroyed and another 50 sustaining major damage. This resulted in at least 10.5 million dollars in damages. An additional 1.5 million dollars in damage was reported public infrastructure. The Neosho River reached a record crest of 40.6 feet on the morning of July 2nd. This was 11.6 feet above flood stage. Major flooding was seen on the Neosho at Chanute when a crest of 36.82 feet was recorded on the morning of July 1st. The Neosho inundated the city of Chanute with some areas under as much as 7 to 8 feet of water. The river remained above flood stage at Chanute until July 4th and at Erie until July 5th.
Extremely heavy rainfall from the end of June into early July caused flash flooding throughout Wilson County. The flash flooding and the ensuing river flooding led to approximately 500 homes sustaining major damage which resulted in an estimated 15 million dollars in damage. Additionally, 6.6 million dollars of damage was done to public infrastructure. The Fall River at Fredonia had a record crest of 41.12 feet on the morning of June 30th. This is 24.12 feet above flood stage. The river fell below flood stage early in the morning of July 2nd.
Extremely heavy rainfall from the end of June into early July caused flash flooding throughout Woodson County. This resulted in roughly 71 thousand dollars in damage.
Heavy rainfall from the end of June into early July caused flooding throughout Butler County. This resulted in roughly 108 thousand dollars in damage.
Heavy rainfall from the end of June into early July caused flash flooding throughout Greenwood County. This resulted in roughly 59 thousand dollars in damage.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood, Montgomery | 2007-07-01 | 55 | Male | Permanent Structure | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, July 2007
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: 48701, 48703, 48705, 48711, 48721, 48729, 48732, 48736, 48737, 48858, 48859, 48861, 48856, 48812, 48833, 48842, 48844, 48845, 48852, 48854, 48855.