A complex of thunderstorms rolled out of northwest Kansas during the late night hours along Interstate 70 and produced severe wind gusts and hail.
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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 DDC wrote it up.
A complex of thunderstorms rolled out of northwest Kansas during the late night hours along Interstate 70 and produced severe wind gusts and hail.
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 Dodge City, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 13, 2:35 PM CST, 8 hours 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS 335 PM CDT WED AUG 13 2008 .DISCUSSION... DAYS 1-2... THE MAIN FORECAST DECISION COMES TONIGHT ON WHEN AND WHERE SEVERE STORMS MIGHT FORM. THE SECOND PHASE OF DECISION MAKING IS THURSDAY EVENING/NIGHT WHEN ANOTHER ROUND OF SEVERE WEATHER IS POSSIBLE. FOR MUCH OF THIS FORECAST PACKAGE, LITTLE CHANGE WAS MADE. THE 30 TO 40 PERCENT POPS SEEM APPROPRIATE FOR TONIGHT. THINK WITH A LOT OF CLEARING EARLY TODAY AND A LONG PERIOD OF SURFACE HEATING, THE LOWER LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE HAVE DE-STABILIZED MORE AND MORE AS THE AFTERNOON PROGRESSED. WILL MENTION LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS IN MY WESTERN THIRD CWA THIS EVENING, AND SPREAD THAT SEVERE POSSIBLE WORDING EAST TO NEARLY ALL THE CWA OVERNIGHT. AN UPPER LOW IS BOTH DISCERNIBLE ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AND FORECAST BY NEARLY EVERY MODEL TO MOVE AND DEEPEN AND BE OVER WESTERN NEBRASKA BY THURSDAY NIGHT. THIS UPPER LOW WILL SLOWLY DIG AND MOVE ACROSS KANSAS AS A CUT OFF LOW THROUGH FRIDAY AND BEYOND. SINCE THE STEERING UPPER LEVEL FLOW IS WELL TO THE NORTH, THIS SLOW MOVING SYSTEM SHOULD BRING SOME DECENT PRECIP (QPF) TO WESTERN KANSAS. ADDITIONALLY, A COLD FRONT WILL WORK SOUTH FROM THE NORTHERN PLAINS, AND THE BEST TIMING FOR CROSSING OUR CWA WILL BE THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO THURSDAY EVENING. THIS FRONT WILL ADD GOOD LIFT TO THE MOISTURE IN PLACE, AND BE UNDER THE SYNOPTIC SCALE LIFT FROM THE UPPER LOW TO OUR WEST. WILL GO WITH LIKELY POPS FOR TRW/TRW- THURSDAY NIGHT AND KEEP 40-50 CHANCE POPS GOING ON FRIDAY. JUST WHERE THE HEAVIER RAINFALL WILL END UP IS HARD TO PINPOINT, BUT FOR NOW THINK THE NORTH AND EASTERN ZONES WILL END UP WITH MORE RAINFALL DUE TO HIGHER DEWPOINTS AND AVAILABLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE. THE MODELS ARE KEYING ON THE LOW LEVEL WARM TEMP AND MORE MOIST RH FIELDS. THIS POINTS TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST COUNTIES RECEIVING THE MOST RAIN. WILL BUMP UP QPF IN THE SOUTHEAST FOR THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. TEMPERATURES STAYED PRETTY MUCH AS BEFORE. WARM THURSDAY IN THE MID TO UPPER 80S, THEN A SIGNIFICANT COOL OFF FRIDAY WITH CLOUDY, RAINY CONDITIONS. FRIDAY HIGHS SHOULD VARY FROM 75 AT GCK AND HYS TO 81 AT P28. DAYS 3-7... THE MODELS ARE COMING INTO AGREEMENT WITH THE LARGE SCALE FEATURES TODAY. ALL MODELS DROP AN UPPER LOW SOUTHWARD INTO COLORADO AND THEN SLOWLY MOVE THE FEATURE INTO KS/OK BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE UKMET AND ECMWF ARE IN EXCELLENT AGREEMENT THROUGH 144 HRS AND WERE GENERALLY FOLLOWED. AMPLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR THIS SYSTEM. PERIODS OF WIDESPREAD LIFT ALONG WITH THE ABUNDANT MOISTURE MAY BRING LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. POPS WERE RAISED FOR SEVERAL PERIODS INTO SUNDAY NIGHT. SHOWERS/STORMS MAY PERSIST EVEN INTO TUESDAY IN OUR EASTERN COUNTIES. HIGHS AND LOWS WILL BE DRAMATICALLY IMPACTED BY THE TIMING OF THICK CLOUDS AND PRECIP. BUT A CONSERVATIVE FORECAST IS FOR HIGHS IN THE 70S TO MID 80S EACH DAY FROM FRIDAY INTO TUESDAY. MAXES COULD BE LOWER GIVEN EXPECTED PERSISTENT UPSLOPE FLOW AND POSSIBLE LOW CLOUDINESS. GIVEN EXPECTED DEWPOINTS IN THE UPPER 50S TO MID 60S, LOWS ARE EASIER TO PREDICT THAN THE HIGHS. AFTER THE SURFACE FRONT PASSES, SEVERE WEATHER SHOULD NOT BE A BIG CONCERN. BUT LOCALIZED FLOODING IS A POSSIBILITY. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED THIS EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP LATE THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. OF COURSE VSBYS AND CIGS WOULD BE MUCH LOWER UNDER THE STORMS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DDC 63 87 62 78 / 40 30 70 40 GCK 62 85 61 75 / 40 50 60 40 EHA 64 86 61 76 / 30 40 60 40 LBL 64 87 62 77 / 30 20 70 40 HYS 63 84 63 75 / 40 50 60 50 P28 67 89 65 81 / 40 10 60 50 && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && FN12/24/24
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS 1154 AM CDT WED AUG 13 2008 KSZ030-031-043>046-061>066-074>081-084>090-141700- TREGO-ELLIS-SCOTT-LANE-NESS-RUSH-HAMILTON-KEARNY-FINNEY-HODGEMAN- PAWNEE-STAFFORD-STANTON-GRANT-HASKELL-GRAY-FORD-EDWARDS-KIOWA- PRATT-MORTON-STEVENS-SEWARD-MEADE-CLARK-COMANCHE-BARBER- 1154 AM CDT WED AUG 13 2008 /1054 AM MDT WED AUG 13 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL KANSAS...SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS...SOUTHWEST KANSAS AND WEST CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON ALONG AND NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM JOHNSON TO GARDEN CITY TO HAYS. THIS CHANCE FOR STORMS WILL SPREAD EAST OVERNIGHT TO AS FAR EAST AS A LINE FROM LARNED TO COLDWATER. A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY BE SEVERE WITH HAIL AS LARGE AS GOLFBALLS AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS UP TO 70 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE WILL BE A BETTER CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS ALL OF SOUTHWEST KANSAS ON THURSDAY. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD REACH SEVERE LEVELS ONCE AGAIN WITH THE PRIMARY HAZARD BEING LARGE HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS. PERIODS OF VERY HEAVY RAIN FROM THE WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION ARE ALSO EXPECTED LATE THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TONIGHT OVER MUCH OF SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS. && FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT OUR WEBPAGE AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/DDC 12
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS 1145 PM CDT WED AUG 13 2008 KSZ043-044-140530- LANE-SCOTT- 1145 PM CDT WED AUG 13 2008 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR LANE AND SCOTT COUNTIES... AT 1143 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES NORTH OF MODOC...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 39 MPH. PENNY SIZE HAIL...AND WINDS AROUND 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. LAT...LON 3869 10049 3826 10051 3826 10111 3870 10112 TIME...MOT...LOC 0445Z 308DEG 34KT 3856 10109 GERARD
The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:11 UTC.
5 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Tree limbs 4 inches in diameter were blown down and a window was broken out. One temporary road sign was blown across highway 83 just south of town.
Tree limbs and power lines were blown down. On Interstate 70, a semi was blown over.
Power lines were blown down.
Tree branches 4 inches in diameter were blown down.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, August 2008
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: 133347, 133346, 133342, 133343, 133344, 133345.