Kansas, 2007

Flash Flood and Flooding in Kansas, October 15 to 18, 2007

October 15 to 18, 2007 · NWS EAX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

A cold front initiated thunderstorms with very heavy rains and localized flash flooding, over east central Kansas, on the evening of October 17th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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 happened

The episode as NWS EAX wrote it up.

A cold front initiated thunderstorms with very heavy rains and localized flash flooding, over east central Kansas, on the evening of October 17th.

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 Kansas City, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 15, 8:39 PM CST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 15, 8:39 PM CST, 1 hour before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 15, 11:55 AM CST, 9 hours 44 minutes before
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The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:38 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Flood, Atchison

When
October 15, 9:39 PM CST to October 16, 4:22 AM CST
Where
Atchison County, 0.25 mi W of Atchison to 6.13 mi SSE of Oak Mills
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Other Federal Agency
Coordinates
39.570, -95.135

The Missouri River at Atchison crested at 23.35 feet, or 1.35 feet above flood stage.

Flash Flood, Wyandotte

When
October 17, 2:45 PM CST to 6:45 PM CST
Where
Wyandotte County, 0.54 mi E of Sunflower to 1.26 mi SE of Sunflower
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
39.070, -94.860

Water is over the road on Kansas Hwy 32 at 121 St. West Mission Creek is flooding as well. Sandbagging is also occurring along Spring Creek.

Flood, Leavenworth

When
October 18, 6:30 AM CST to 5:42 PM CST
Where
Leavenworth County, 2.55 mi NNW of Easton to 1.07 mi NNW of Springdale
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
39.386, -95.131

The Stranger Creek near Easton crested at 17.62 feet, or 0.62 feet above flood stage.

What these are

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

More

Every storm in Kansas in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, October 2007

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 68226, 61544, 68216.