Hail in Kansas, August 28, 2008

Name: Hail in Kansas, August 28, 2008
Start: 2008-08-28T17:30
End: 2008-08-28T17:45
Location: Kansas

August 28, 2008 · NWS EAX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

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: 2

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.

After a very hot and muggy day in which temperatures soared into the upper 80s to middle 90s, and dew points rose into the 70s across much of Missouri and Kansas, a weak cold front interacted with an upper level disturbance, moving across the northern plains and pushed south into central and southern Missouri. The combination of the frontal boundary and the upper level energy, provided enough lift to allow several strong to severe thunderstorms to form, during the late afternoon and evening hours of Thursday, August 28th. A couple of large hail events were reported.

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 Aug 28, 5:30 PM CST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 28, 5:30 PM CST, 0 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
630 PM CDT THU AUG 28 2008

...UPDATED AVIATION DISCUSSION...

.DISCUSSION...
/305 PM CDT THU AUG 28 2008/
SHORT RANGE (TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT)...

SEE PREVIOUS DISCUSSION BELOW FOR MESOSCALE DISCUSSION ABOUT SEVERE
POTENTIAL TONIGHT. ONE ADDITIONAL CONCERN WILL BE WITH THE POST
FRONTAL DEVELOPMENT OF STORMS...ALREADY OCCURRING IN SOUTHEAST
NEBRASKA. THIS CONVECTION IS TIED MORE TO THE 700 MB LAYER...WHICH
SHOULD GRADUALLY SLIDE TO THE SOUTH THIS EVENING WITH THE 700 MB
SHORT WAVE. THIS MAY BECOME MARGINALLY SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AS
ELEVATED CAPES OF 1500 TO 2000 J/KG EXIST AT THIS POINT IN THE AREA.

DUE TO THE POST FRONTAL POTENTIAL...WILL PULL CHANCE POPS A LITTLE
FURTHER NORTH FOR THE EVENING HOURS. WILL RAISE POPS TO LIKELY
CATEGORIES IN THE SOUTH TO COVER DEVELOPMENT AHEAD OF THE COLD
FRONT. EVEN AFTER MIDNIGHT WILL KEEP SLIGHT CHANCE POPS GOING IN
SOUTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA. NAM SHOWING SOME WEAK ISENTROPIC
LIFT CONTINUING AFTER MIDNIGHT ON THE 305KT SURFACE UNTIL AFTER 09Z.

FOR FRIDAY...WILL KEEP DRY FORECAST GOING...ALTHOUGH NAM SHOWING
POTENTIAL OF CONVECTION IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND SOUTHWEST
MISSOURI...THAT COULD BUILD AS FAR NORTH AS THE EXTREME SOUTHWEST
PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. GFS KEEPS CONVECTION FURTHER TO THE
SOUTH...SO WILL NOT CHANGE THE GOING FORECAST...BUT SOMETHING TO BE
WATCHED.

MUCH DRIER DEWPOINTS THAT ARE SHOWING UP OVER NEBRASKA AT THIS
TIME...SHOULD BE ABLE TO PUSH INTO NORTHWEST MISSOURI LATE
TONIGHT...BUT BIG QUESTION ON HOW FAR SOUTH AND EAST THIS DRY AIR
CAN MAKE IT.  WILL FOLLOW THE NAM LEAD ON BRINGING THIS DRIER AIR
INTO NORTHWEST MISSOURI LATE THIS EVENING...SPREADING IT FURTHER TO
THE EAST OVERNIGHT...BUT DOUBT WE WILL SEE MUCH PUSH TO THE SOUTH OF
THE MISSOURI RIVER...AS CORE OF SURFACE HIGH MOVES ACROSS SOUTHERN
IOWA AND NORTHERN MISSOURI ON FRIDAY...THEN EAST INTO ILLINOIS BY
SATURDAY MORNING.

FOR TEMPERATURES...GIVEN READINGS THAT ARE OCCURRING BEHIND THE COLD
FRONT TODAY...WILL GO SLIGHTLY ON THE COOL SIDE OF GUIDANCE FOR
HIGHS ON FRIDAY. THEN WITH AN EXPECTED COOL START SATURDAY MORNING
AND STILL EAST TO SOUTHEAST WINDS...WILL ALSO GO SLIGHTLY BELOW
GUIDANCE FOR SATURDAY.

PC

MEDIUM RANGE (SUN-THU)...

CONTINUITY RULES THE FIRST HALF OF THE MEDIUM RANGE PORTION OF THE
FORECAST AS SFC RIDGING IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO HAVE A STRONG
INFLUENCE ON THE REGION FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY.  HAVE MADE ONLY
SUBTLE ADJUSTMENTS TO TEMPERATURES BOTH DAYS...AS H850 TEMPERATURES
AROUND 20C WITH COINCIDING MIXING LEVELS SHOULD PRODUCE READINGS IN
THE MIDDLE TO UPR 80S IN MOST LOCATIONS.

IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE MEDIUM RANGE /TUE-THU/ SOME UNCERTAINTY
STILL REMAINS WITH REGARDS TO THE TRACK AND EVOLUTION OF HURRICANE
GUSTAV.  THE ECMWF...WHILE MAYBE NOT THE PERFECT SOLUTION...STILL
HAS A BETTER GRIP ON GUSTAV AND THE POSSIBLE EFFECTS ON THE LONG
WAVE PATTERN OVER THE CONUS.  FEEL THAT NEXT UPR TROUGH CROSSING THE
ROCKIES MON NIGHT/TUESDAY WILL SLOW SOMEWHAT...PUSHING A SFC COLD
FRONT TOWARDS THE CWA TUESDAY NIGHT.  THEN THE REAL QUESTIONS BEGIN
WITH HOW GUSTAV WILL TRACK ONCE IT ARRIVES ONTO THE MAINLAND.  THE
ECMWF IS DRIVING THIS SYSTEM TOO FAR WEST...WHILE THE GFS APPEARS TO
SHEAR OUT THE DISTURBANCE WHICH IS A SOLUTION THAT IS COMPLETELY
DISREGARDED AT THIS POINT.  REGARDLESS...HIGHEST CHANCE FOR PRECIP
APPEARS TO ARRIVE IN THE WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY TIMEFRAME...THUS
HAVE INCREASED POPS IN THIS TIME PERIOD.  DEPENDING ON THE TRACK OF
THE TROPICAL SYSTEM...THIS FRONT MAY STALL OUT NEAR THE CWA FOR THE
END OF THE WEEK PROVIDING COOLER TEMPERATURES AND INCREASED PRECIP
CHANCES...ESPECIALLY OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE CWA.

DUX

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION...

/1152 AM CDT THU AUG 28 2008/
SHORTWAVE IN ERN IA CONTINUED TO PROGRESS EAST WITH 2-3MB PRESSURE
RISES IN ERN NEB/WRN IA DRIVING THE COLD FRONT IN XTRM NWRN MO SE AT
10-20 MPH. MORNING UPPER AIR DEPICTS MODERATELY STEEP LAPSE RATES
BETWEEN 700-500MB WITH THE SC/ACCAS IN WCNTRL AND CNTRL GIVING A HINT
OF THE POTENTIAL INSTABILITY FOR THIS AFTN. PROFILERS AS WELL AS
MORNING UPPER AIR ALSO DEPICTS THAT THE STRONGEST H7-H3 WIND FIELDS
WILL NOT BE JUXTAPOSITION ALONG THE FRONT THIS AFTERNOON...REMAINING
WELL NORTH INTO NEBRASKA...IOWA AND XTRM NWRN MO LATE THIS AFTERNOON.

HAVE GENERALLY FOLLOWED THE LATEST 12Z NAM IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE
CONVECTIVE EVENT FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TNGT. MODEL SOUNDINGS
SUGGEST THAT SBCAPES WILL RISE TO AROUND 3500-4000 J/KG BY LATE THIS
AFTERNOON...ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT WHICH SHOULD MOVE SOUTHEAST
TO A UNIONVILLE TO KCI LINE BY 21Z. AS PER MODEL
SOUNDINGS...SUFFICIENT HEATING JUST AHEAD OF THE BOUNDARY SHOULD
BREAK THE STRONG 800MB CAPPING INVERSION...FIRST ACROSS THE NERN CWA
AROUND 20Z...THEN WCNTRL MO BTWN 20-22Z.

WIND PROFILES WILL BE GENERALLY UNIDIRECTIONAL AHEAD OF THE BOUNDARY
WITH SFC-3KM SHEAR VALUES NR 20KTS WITH SFC-6KM SHEAR AROUND 25-30
KNOTS. THE STG INSTABILITY ALONG WITH MARGINAL SFC-3KM SHEAR WILL
LIKELY BE SUFFICIENT FOR A MODEST SQUALL LINE DEVELOPMENT BY 00Z TO
02Z WITH A SE MOVEMENT AROUND 15-25 KNOTS. INITIALLY THE CONVECTION
WILL BE SCT TO BKN DURING THE LATE AFTN HOURS.

GIVEN THE DRIER AIR UPSTREAM FROM 800 MB THROUGH 500 MB...DCAPE
VALUES MAY EXCEED 1000 J/KG...INCREASING THE THREAT OF STRONG
STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. UNIDIRECTIONAL WIND PROFILES DO NOT FAVOR
TORNADIC DEVELOPMENT. HOWEVER...GIVEN THE STG INSTABILITY...LARGE
HAIL IS PSBL.

GIVEN THE PROJECTED MOVEMENT OF THE CDFNT...THE LINE OF CONVECTION
SHOULD MOVE OUT OF THE CWA BTWN 03-06Z.

DB

&&

.AVIATION...

FOR THE 00Z TAFS...WILL CONTINUE THE THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS AT THE
KSTJ SITE THROUGH 02Z WITH THE ELEVATED BAND OF STORMS CURRENTLY
MOVING ACROSS THAT REGION...BUT AT THIS TIME EXPECTING STORMS IN THE
KANSAS CITY AREA TO REMAIN SOUTH OF THE RIVER. WILL ALSO PUT SOME
MVFR VSBYS IN AT THE KSTJ SITE FOR LATE TONIGHT AS LIGHT WINDS AND
WET GROUND COMBINE TO PRODUCE SOME FOG.

PC

&&

.EAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MO...NONE.
KS...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 28, 2:30 PM CST, 3 hours before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
330 PM CDT THU AUG 28 2008

KSZ025-057-060-102>105-MOZ001>008-011>017-020>025-028>033-037>040-
043>046-053-054-291800-
ATCHISON KS-MIAMI-LINN KS-DONIPHAN-LEAVENWORTH-WYANDOTTE-
JOHNSON KS-ATCHISON MO-NODAWAY-WORTH-GENTRY-HARRISON-MERCER-
PUTNAM-SCHUYLER-HOLT-ANDREW-DE KALB-DAVIESS-GRUNDY-SULLIVAN-ADAIR-
BUCHANAN-CLINTON-CALDWELL-LIVINGSTON-LINN MO-MACON-PLATTE-CLAY-
RAY-CARROLL-CHARITON-RANDOLPH-JACKSON-LAFAYETTE-SALINE-HOWARD-
CASS-JOHNSON MO-PETTIS-COOPER-BATES-HENRY-
330 PM CDT THU AUG 28 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST...NORTH CENTRAL
AND WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI...AS WELL AS EXTREME EASTERN KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

A COLD FRONT HAS MOVED TO A LINE FROM EAST CENTRAL KANSAS THROUGH
NORTHEAST MISSOURI THIS AFTERNOON...THOUGH THE ATMOSPHERE BEHIND THE
FRONT STILL REMAINS UNSTABLE...AND SUPPORTIVE FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT.

THUNDERSTORMS THAT HAVE DEVELOPED ACROSS FAR NORTHWEST MISSOURI WERE
SLIGHTLY ELEVATED IN NATURE...THOUGH WERE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL. AS THESE STORMS MOVE SOUTH...AND ADDITIONAL
STORMS FORM ALONG AND NEAR A ST JOSEPH TO PRINCETON LINE...SEVERE
HAIL AND WIND WILL BECOME MORE LIKELY.

THIS ACTIVITY WILL AFFECT AREAS NORTH OF THE MISSOURI RIVER THIS
AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING...WHILE PUSHING SOUTH OF THE MISSOURI
RIVER THROUGH THE EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY. AT
THIS TIME...IT IS TOO EARLY TO DETERMINE WHETHER ANY STORMS WILL BE
SEVERE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS REQUESTED ACROSS THE AREA FOR THE REMAINDER OF
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

DB/21

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 28, 4:51 PM CST, 39 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
551 PM CDT THU AUG 28 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0515 PM     TSTM WND DMG     TRENTON                 40.08N 93.60W
08/28/2008                   GRUNDY             MO   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            LARGE TREES LIMB DOWN AND BLOCKING TRAFFIC ON MAPLE ROAD.
            ALSO TREE LIMBS DOWN ON MERRILL ROAD.

&&

21

Special weather statement, Aug 28, 4:54 PM CST, 36 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
554 PM CDT THU AUG 28 2008

KSZ105-MOZ037-282345-
JACKSON-JOHNSON-
554 PM CDT THU AUG 28 2008

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR JOHNSON AND SOUTHWESTERN JACKSON
COUNTIES UNTIL 645 PM CDT...

AT 551 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM LENEXA TO
EDGERTON...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

NICKEL SIZE HAIL...AND WINDS AROUND 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE
STORMS.

MJ

Local storm report, Aug 28, 4:57 PM CST, 33 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
557 PM CDT THU AUG 28 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0540 PM     HAIL             KANSAS CITY             39.12N 94.55W
08/28/2008  E0.88 INCH       JACKSON            MO   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

            NICKEL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT STERLING AND 49TH
            STREET.

&&

GAMIS

Local storm report, Aug 28, 5:11 PM CST, 19 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
611 PM CDT THU AUG 28 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0608 PM     HAIL             BLUE SPRINGS            39.02N 94.28W
08/28/2008  E1.00 INCH       JACKSON            MO   PUBLIC

            GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH

&&

GAMIS

Local storm report, Aug 28, 5:12 PM CST, 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
612 PM CDT THU AUG 28 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0610 PM     HAIL             6 N LEES SUMMIT         39.00N 94.38W
08/28/2008  E0.88 INCH       JACKSON            MO   CO-OP OBSERVER

&&

GAMIS

Local storm report, Aug 28, 5:13 PM CST, 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
613 PM CDT THU AUG 28 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0612 PM     HAIL             2 SW BLUE SPRINGS       39.00N 94.30W
08/28/2008  E1.50 INCH       JACKSON            MO   PUBLIC

&&

21

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:30 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Johnson

When: August 28, 5:30 PM CST
Where: Johnson County, 1.76 mi WSW of Edgerton
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 38.760, -95.030

Hail, Miami

When: August 28, 5:45 PM CST
Where: Miami County, 4.07 mi NNW of Paola Majeski Arpt
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 38.650, -94.960

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Kansas in 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in Kansas, August 2008

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: 130818, 130819.