Thunderstorms developed along a retreating warm front during the late afternoon hours across northeastern Kansas. The warm front became nearly stationary around 6 pm across far northeastern Kansas as convection over eastern Nebraska produced cold pools which surged south sharpening up the boundary into the evening hours.
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 TOP wrote it up.
Thunderstorms developed along a retreating warm front during the late afternoon hours across northeastern Kansas. The warm front became nearly stationary around 6 pm across far northeastern Kansas as convection over eastern Nebraska produced cold pools which surged south sharpening up the boundary into the evening hours. All of the damage reported occurred with a thunderstorm that moved through Nemaha County and produced a swath of damaging outflow winds.
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 Jul 24, 11:54 AM CST, 5 hours 58 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 1254 PM CDT THU JUL 24 2008 .UPDATE... UPDATED FOR 18 UTC AVIATION && .DISCUSSION... SEE PREVIOUS DISCUSSION BELOW... && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS ACROSS TAF SITES GOING INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS. MVFR CEILINGS CREEPING INTO NORTHWEST MISSOURI AND FAR NORTHEAST KANSAS FROM RAIN-COOLED OUTFLOW FROM EARLIER CONVECTION IN MISSOURI. LOOKS LIKE THIS WILL MIX SUFFICIENTLY TO PREVENT ENTRY INTO TOP/FOE SITES. SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. INSERTED SOME GUSTS IN MHK FOR SLIGHTLY STRONGER WINDS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON. THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP NEAR THE KS/NE BORDER THIS EVENING. THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE CONFIDENCE IS INCREASING FOR TOP/FOE AND INSERTED MENTION IN FORECAST THIS EVENING/TONIGHT. ACTIVITY SHOULD CLEAR BEFORE SUNRISE FRIDAY WITH BKN 10 KFT DECK LEFT BEHIND. BLAIR && PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 311 AM CDT THU JUL 24 2008/ DISCUSSION... 08Z WATER VAPOR SHOWS A CLOSED LOW OVER THE GREAT LAKES...A SHORTWAVE TROUGH PROPAGATING EAST OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES...AND A BROAD RIDGE FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS BACK WEST OVER SOUTHERN CA. HEIGHT FALLS ACROSS THE NORTHERN ROCKIES AND PLAINS HAVE FLATTENED THE UPPER RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS. AT THE SFC A TROUGH WAS FOUND ACROSS WESTERN KS STRETCHING NORTH. A MOIST AND WARM AIRMASS WAS FOUND EAST OF THIS TROUGH...AND ELEVATED CONVECTION HAS ONCE AGAIN DEVELOPED ALONG THE PERIPHERY OF THE UPPER RIDGE. FOR THIS MORNING...THE RUC AND NAM 310K ISENTROPIC SFC KEEPS THE BETTER MOISTURE AXIS JUST TO THE NORTHEAST OF THE FORECAST AREA. THIS IS SUPPORTED BY LATEST RADAR TRENDS WITH THUNDERSTORMS MOVING SOUTHEAST INTO NORTHERN MO. A FEW ELEVATED STORMS DEVELOPED OVER SOUTH CENTRAL NEB BUT HAVE SINCE FALLEN APART. SO EXPECT THE MAJORITY OF THE AREA TO REMAIN DRY THIS MORNING. HAVE KEPT SLIGHT CHANCE POPS ACROSS THE NORTHEAST THIS MORNING AND THEN ACROSS THE NORTH FOR THE AFTERNOON AS MODELS STILL SHOW A WEAK WIND SHIFT SLIDING INTO NORTHERN KS. MODELS SHOW THE BOUNDARY LAYER MIXING TO BETWEEN 850 AND 800MB. THEREFORE WOULD EXPECT HIGHS TO AGAIN REACH THE LOWER TO MID 90S FOR MOST AREAS. COOLEST SPOT SHOULD BE NORTHEAST WHERE THERE IS LIKELY TO BE A LITTLE MORE CLOUD COVER...WITH THE WARMEST SPOT ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST. FOR TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...PRECIP CHANCES LOOK TO BE A LITTLE HIGHER. MODELS SHOW THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE AXIS SHIFTING SOUTH ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS...WITH WEAK NORTHWEST FLOW SETTING UP OVER THE FORECAST AREA. THINK BECAUSE OF THIS...CONVECTION THAT HAS PASSED JUST NORTHEAST OF THE AREA THE PAST COUPLE NIGHTS WILL BE MORE LIKELY TO MOVE ACROSS NORTHEAST KS. NAM AND GFS SHOW WEAK SHORTWAVES CLIPPING NORTHEAST KS TONIGHT AND AGAIN FRIDAY NIGHT WITH ABUNDANT MOISTURE STILL IN PLACE. THEREFORE HAVE GONE WITH CHANCE POPS ACROSS NORTHEAST KS TONIGHT AND SPREAD CHANCE POPS A LITTLE FURTHER SOUTH FOR FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING. USED PERSISTENCE FOR THE TEMP FORECAST AS AIRMASS APPEARS TO CHANGE LITTLE FROM DAY TO DAY. DO NOT EXPECT PRECIP TO OCCUR LONG ENOUGH DURING ANY GIVEN DAY TO APPRECIABLY HAMPER DAY TIME HEATING. WEAK NORTHWEST FLOW CONTINUES THROUGH SUNDAY WITH ANOTHER POTENTIAL VORT MAX CLIPPING NORTHEAST KS. SO MAINTAINED THE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. FORECAST WAS LEFT PRETTY MUCH IN TACT BEYOND SUNDAY. WOLTERS && .TOP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 328 PM CDT THU JUL 24 2008 KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-251015- REPUBLIC-WASHINGTON-MARSHALL-NEMAHA-BROWN-CLOUD-CLAY-RILEY- POTTAWATOMIE-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-OTTAWA-DICKINSON-GEARY-MORRIS- WABAUNSEE-SHAWNEE-DOUGLAS-LYON-OSAGE-FRANKLIN-COFFEY-ANDERSON- 328 PM CDT THU JUL 24 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL...NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP ALONG A BOUNDARY OVER NORTHEAST KANSAS LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. WITH A MODERATELY UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE...AND WINDS INCREASING WITH HEIGHT...SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE POSSIBLE. STRONG WINDS...HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN ARE ALL POSSIBLE...AND AN ISOLATED TORNADO CANNOT BE RULED OUT. MORE THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED LATER TONIGHT AS A SYSTEM MOVES OUT OF NEBRASKA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THERE WILL BE LOW CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MOST AREAS FOR MUCH OF THE NEXT WEEK. STORMS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY COULD BE STRONG TO SEVERE WITH HAIL AND STRONG WINDS A POSSIBILITY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... THERE IS A CHANCE SPOTTERS MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT ACROSS NORTHEAST KANSAS. GDP
SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 637 PM CDT THU JUL 24 2008 KSZ011-250000- NEMAHA- 637 PM CDT THU JUL 24 2008 THROUGH 700 PM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE EAST AT 25 MPH ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTHERN NEMAHA COUNTY. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING PEA SIZE HAIL...STRONG WINDS OF 40 TO 50 MPH...HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING. SOME LOCATIONS THAT COULD BE AFFECTED INCLUDE SABETHA...ONEIDA AND BERN. A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT. STAY ALERT TO THE WEATHER IN CASE A WARNING IS ISSUED. BLAIR
The Topeka radar (KTWX), 98 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:50 UTC.
4 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Spotter called from his vehicle, and reported that his car was being rocked by the strong winds.
A spotter called several times to report wind gusts of sixty to seventy miles per hour over the ten minute period.
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, July 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: 128329, 128330, 128332, 128333.