Severe thunderstorms developed and produced hail and damaging winds across parts of northeast Kansas. Reports of flooding also occurred.
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.
Severe thunderstorms developed and produced hail and damaging winds across parts of northeast Kansas. Reports of flooding also occurred.
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 May 31, 10:52 PM CST, 2 hours 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 1152 PM CDT SUN MAY 31 2009 .UPDATE... UPDATED FOR 06Z AVIATION. && .DISCUSSION... SEE PREVIOUS DISCUSSION. && .AVIATION... INITIALLY A WIND FORECAST WITH LLWS CONCERNS INITIALLY FOLLOWED BY BREEZY AFTERNOON CONDITIONS. SOUNDINGS RATHER ABRUPT INCREASE TO 45KTS AROUND 1KFT THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS AS LLJ INCREASES. SOUTHWEST WINDS TOMORROW BECOME SOUTH AND HAVE ADDED CB FOR NEARBY STORMS LATE IN THE PERIOD. 67 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 319 PM CDT SUN MAY 31 2009/ DISCUSSION... RECENT WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWING THE SLOW MOVING UPPER WAVE MAKING ITS WAY EAST THROUGH ARIZONA WITH A DYING MESOSCALE CONVECTIVE VORTEX PUSHING ENE INTO SOUTHERN NEBRASKA. MID CLOUD ASSOCIATED WITH THE LATTER WAS OVER THE HEART OF THE CWA AT 19Z. AFTER MORNING DEW POINTS IN THE 40S BEHIND SATURDAYS WEAK BOUNDARY...SOUTHERLY FLOW HAS RETURNED TO THE AREA WITH MORE TYPICAL LATE MAY MOISTURE VALUES. WARM AIR ADVECTION OVER THE OLD BOUNDARY HELPED SPARK THE OVERNIGHT CONVECTION...WITH ITS CLOUD REMNANTS NOW OVER SOUTHERN MISSOURI. COLD FRONT AT 850MB ASSOCIATED WITH A SOUTH CENTRAL CANADIAN UPPER WAVE WAS INTO THE NORTHWESTERN HIGH PLAINS AT 12Z...WITH 19Z OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS PUTTING IT THROUGH SOUTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA. NORTHERN PLAINS BOUNDARY WILL PUSH FARTHER SOUTH AND EAST TOWARD KANSAS TONIGHT AS THE CANADIAN WAVE CONTINUES EAST. NOT EXPECTING WIDESPREAD CONVECTION ALONG IT AS 18Z OMAHA SOUNDING SHOWS VERY DRY LOW LEVEL AIRMASS...BUT INCREASING LOW LEVEL JET INTO THE BOUNDARY GIVES ONE PAUSE FOR REMOVING PRECIPITATION CHANCES OVER FAR NORTHERN AREAS. THE LOW LEVEL JET WILL HELP KEEP TEMPS UP...WITH MID-UPPER 60S LIKELY. WNW UPPER FLOW WILL PUSH THE BOUNDARY TO ALONG THE MO/IA BORDER BY LATE AFTERNOON MONDAY WITH MOISTURE POOLING ALONG IT. SURFACE LOW PRESSURE WILL ALSO DEEPEN ALONG THE CO/KS BORDER. STORMS ARE LIKELY TO DEVELOP IN THE FORMER AREA...AND COULD DEVELOP IN THE LATTER AS WELL...WITH NORTHERN AND POSSIBLY WESTERN AREAS AFFECTED AS THE AFTERNOON PASSES. INSTABILITY IN THE AGAIN WARM AND INCREASINGLY MOIST AIRMASS...BUT SHEAR WILL BE QUITE WEAK...POSSIBLY SUPPORTING A PULSE SEVERE THREAT. 65 TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... SURFACE LOW PRESSURE EXPECTED TO BE CENTERED IN WESTERN KANSAS...WITH THIS FORECAST AREA LIKELY IN THE WARM SECTOR AND WARM FRONT EXPECTED TO BE VERY NEAR I-80 TUESDAY MORNING. ALTHOUGH THERE ARE SLIGHT TIMING ISSUES...NAM...GFS...AND EC ALL INDICATE VIGOROUS CONVECTION ALONG WARM FRONT MOVING SOUTHEAST INTO THIS AREA EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. WE MAY ACTUALLY HAVE CONVECTION EARLIER IF LOW LEVEL JET CAN PRODUCE LIFT THROUGH WARM ADVECTION. LIKELY SCENARIO IS FOR MOST CONVECTION TO BE ALONG THE FRONT AND WILL MOVE SOUTH INTO LLJ. THIS APPEARS TO BE A VERY SLOW SYSTEM AND AM INTERESTED IN HOW MUCH RAIN IT MAY PRODUCE. MODEL SOUNDINGS INDICATE A VERY DEEP WARM CLOUD LAYER WITH PWATS NEARLY 1.8 INCHES. COULD SEE SOME SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS IF LLJ CAN CONTINUE TO PROVIDE ENOUGH MOISTURE. LOOKS LIKE MOST THUNDERSTORMS WILL END BY EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING...AND SUBSIDENCE BEHIND SYSTEM COULD LET AREA CLEAR OUT RATHER QUICKLY. EVEN WITH THIS...NORTHEASTERLY WINDS BEHIND FRONT WILL LIMIT MIXING AND EXPECT WEDNESDAY TO BE 5 TO 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL FOR HIGH TEMPERATURES. DRY FORECAST FOLLOWS UNTIL RATHER DEEP SYSTEM TRANSITS THE NORTHERN PLAINS OF THE U.S. ON FRIDAY. COLD FRONT TRAILING THIS SYSTEM WILL BE NEXT FOCUS FOR CONVECTION LATER FRIDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. NOT LIKELY TO SEE MORE THAN 6 TO 12 HOURS OF CONVECTION WITH THIS TRANSITORY FRONT...BUT TIMING IS RATHER DIFFICULT THAT FAR OUT. THUS...WENT MOSTLY WITH THE HPC BROAD BRUSH SOLUTION OF LOW CHANCE POPS THROUGH SUNDAY. && .TOP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 500 AM CDT SUN MAY 31 2009 KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-011000- REPUBLIC-WASHINGTON-MARSHALL-NEMAHA-BROWN-CLOUD-CLAY-RILEY- POTTAWATOMIE-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-OTTAWA-DICKINSON-GEARY-MORRIS- WABAUNSEE-SHAWNEE-DOUGLAS-LYON-OSAGE-FRANKLIN-COFFEY-ANDERSON- 500 AM CDT SUN MAY 31 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL...NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT TONIGHT ACROSS FAR NORTHERN KANSAS...GENERALLY NORTH OF A LINE FROM CONCORDIA TO HOLTON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THUNDERSTORMS CHANCES WILL INCREASE FOR MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. THE BETTER CHANCES WILL BE TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND TUESDAY NIGHT AS A WEAK FRONT PUSHES SOUTH. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL COULD CAUSE SOME PROBLEMS. THUNDERSTORMS COULD LINGER OVER EAST CENTRAL KANSAS ON WEDNESDAY. THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY OVER THE ENTIRE AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS SHOULD NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. WOLTERS
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:28 UTC.
5 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Slow moving thunderstorms produced heavy rains and flash flooding across parts of Republic county. An estimated 3 feet of water over old Hwy 81 near Timber Road.
Two sheds blown onto their roofs and moved up to 20 feet through wire fence. TV antenna also snapped and blown about 60 feet.
Ground covered by quarter sized hail.
Hail was the size of pennies and dimes.
Eight inch tree limb downed from strong winds.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, June 2009
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: 176619, 176617, 176612, 176613, 176614, 176615, 176616, 176618.