Several clusters of intense thunderstorms moved north across the area during the late afternoon and evening hours, producing several tornadoes in northwest Kansas. Other areas nearby received hail up to the size of golf balls and wind gusts to 80 mph.
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 GLD wrote it up.
Several clusters of intense thunderstorms moved north across the area during the late afternoon and evening hours, producing several tornadoes in northwest Kansas. Other areas nearby received hail up to the size of golf balls and wind gusts to 80 mph.
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 Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 23, 4:14 PM MST, 3 hours 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
514 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010
.DISCUSSION...
322 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010
EARLY AFTERNOON ANALYSIS OF WATER VAPOR IMAGERY/UPPER AIR DATA
INDICATES THE MID/UPPER TROUGH OVER THE WESTERN CONUS CONTINUES TO
AMPLIFY EQUATOR-WARD. SHORTWAVE TROUGH IS NOTED OVER COLORADO AND
NEW MEXICO AND IS TRANSLATING NORTH-NORTHEAST TOWARD THE CENTRAL
HIGH PLAINS. AT THE SURFACE...COLD FRONT WHICH PUSHED THROUGH THE
FORECAST AREA THIS MORNING HAS STALLED AND IS SLOWING BEGINNING TO
MIX NORTHWARD AS A WARM FRONT. CU FIELD OVER SOUTHWEST KANSAS IS
BEGINNING TO INCREASE WITH A FEW WEAK ATTEMPTS AT CONVECTION FROM
NEAR KDDC SOUTHWEST TOWARD KPYX.
FORECAST CONCERNS WILL REVOLVE AROUND POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE DEEP
MOIST CONVECTION THIS EVENING FOLLOWED BY WINDS TOMORROW AND ADDITIONAL
CHANCES FOR CONVECTION THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
STAGE IS SET FOR POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER EVENT THIS EVENING IF
STRONG CAPPING CAN BE OVERCOME. MU CAPE IS RAPIDLY INCREASING
SOUTH OF THE SURFACE BOUNDARY WITH VALUES AS HIGH AS 4500 J/KG
OVER SOUTHWEST KANSAS. GUIDANCE IN RELATIVELY GOOD AGREEMENT
DEPICTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WARM FRONT WHICH WILL THEN MIX
NORTHWARD ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. AT THE SAME TIME...A DRYLINE
HAS BECOME ESTABLISHED OVER EASTERN COLORADO EXTENDING SOUTHWARD
FROM AN ATTENDANT SURFACE LOW. STRONG FORCING FOR
ASCENT/DIFFLUENCE ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO OVERSPREAD THE REGION
YIELDING A VERY UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT. STRONG LOW LEVEL JET ~55-60
KTS IS PROGGED TO DEVELOP AFTER 00Z THIS EVENING WHICH WILL ONLY
AID IN LENGTHENING THE HODOGRAPH STRUCTURE. ANY STORM WHICH DOES
FORM SHOULD QUICKLY OBTAIN SUPERCELLULAR STRUCTURE LEADING TO
POTENTIAL FOR LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS. GIVEN STRONG 0-1 KM
SHEAR OF ROUGHLY 30 KTS AND STRONG LOW LEVEL HELICITY...AN
ISOLATED TORNADO ALSO APPEARS POSSIBLE. CONVECTION SHOULD
TRANSLATE NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA AROUND 06Z OR SHORTLY AFTER.
ADDITIONAL SEVERE WEATHER APPEARS POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF THE
FORECAST AREA ON MONDAY AFTERNOON. GREATEST THREAT APPEARS TO BE
EAST OF THE COLORADO STATE LINE AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70.
SURFACE BASED CONVECTION WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE WITH PRIMARY
THREAT LIKELY TO BE LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS. WEAK SURFACE
FROPA WILL OCCUR LATE MONDAY NIGHT WITH THE AREA REMAINING UNDER
EASTERLY/NORTHEASTERLY FLOW FOR THE DAY TUESDAY. SOUTHEASTERN
PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA WILL SEE THE POTENTIAL FOR
CONVECTION TUESDAY AFTERNOON BUT THE THREAT FOR WIDESPREAD SEVERE
WEATHER APPEARS LOW. ANOTHER SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL TRANSLATE
ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA ON WEDNESDAY BRINGING YET ANOTHER
OPPORTUNITY FOR DEEP MOIST CONVECTION.
BROAD MID/UPPER RIDGE IS PROGGED TO BUILD OVER MUCH OF THE CENTRAL
CONUS ON THURSDAY WITH THE CLOSED MID/UPPER TROUGH JUST OFF THE
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST. SHOULD RESULT IN A PERIOD OF DRY
WEATHER AND ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS THROUGH SATURDAY. BY SATURDAY
NIGHT...THE MID/UPPER CLOSED LOW WILL BEGIN TO TRANSLATE EASTWARD
TOWARD THE NORTHERN PLAINS. A SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL EJECT FROM THE
BASE OF THE TROUGH OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS SATURDAY NIGHT BRINGING
ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR CONVECTION. SHOULD BE POST FRONTAL ON
SUNDAY WITH TEMPS RETURNING TO NEAR CLIMO.
FOLTZ
&&
.AVIATION...
514 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010
FOR THE 00Z TAFS...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING WILL BE THE
MAIN AVIATION PROBLEM AT BOTH KGLD AND KMCK. RADAR TRENDS AT 23Z
SHOWED CONVECTION TO THE SOUTH OF THE AREA MOVING NORTH AT NEAR
50KTS...SO EXPECT IMPACTS EARLY IN THE TAF PERIOD. LARGE HAIL AND
GUSTY WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR ANY PRECIPITATION CORE. ACTIVITY
SHOULD END TOWARDS 06Z...WITH GUSTY SOUTH WINDS CONTINUING THROUGH
THE NIGHT WITH THE LOW LEVEL JET.
024
&&
.GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
KS...WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM MDT /10 AM CDT/ TO 7 PM MDT /8 PM CDT/
MONDAY FOR KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042.
NE...WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM MDT /10 AM CDT/ TO 7 PM MDT /8 PM CDT/
MONDAY FOR NEZ079>081.
CO...WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM TO 7 PM MDT MONDAY FOR COZ090>092.
&&HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 1045 AM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010 COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-241200- YUMA-KIT CARSON-CHEYENNE CO-CHEYENNE KS-RAWLINS-DECATUR-NORTON- SHERMAN-THOMAS-SHERIDAN-GRAHAM-WALLACE-LOGAN-GOVE-GREELEY-WICHITA- DUNDY-HITCHCOCK-RED WILLOW- 1045 AM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010 /1145 AM CDT SUN MAY 23 2010/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...NORTHWEST KANSAS AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST TO DEVELOP AFTER 4 PM MDT (5 PM CDT) ALONG AND SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM TRIBUNE KANSAS TO NORTON KANSAS AS A WARM FRONT DEVELOPS IN THE AREA. LARGE HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREATS WITH ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP. ONLY ISOLATED COVERAGE IS EXPECTED LATE THIS AFTERNOON DUE TO A STRONG CAPPING INVERSION NOW IN PLACE WHICH WILL ACT TO SUPPRESS STORM DEVELOPMENT BEFORE THIS EVENING. MORE WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE IS EXPECTED AFTER ABOUT 7 PM MDT (8 PM CDT) ALONG AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 36 AS THE WARM FRONT CONTINUES TO LIFT NORTH DURING THE EVENING AND THE CAPPING INVERSION WEAKENS. IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF LARGE HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS...THE ADDITIONAL POTENTIAL FOR A COUPLE TORNADOES WILL EXIST THIS EVENING NORTH OF HIGHWAY 36. STORM MOVEMENT WILL BE NORTH-NORTHEAST AROUND 30 TO 35 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...ARE EXPECTED EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS THE CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS FROM MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. STAY TUNED FOR LATER FORECASTS...WATCHES AND WARNINGS. DLF
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
748 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0748 PM FLASH FLOOD GOODLAND 39.35N 101.71W
05/23/2010 SHERMAN KS LAW ENFORCEMENT
DITCHES OVERFLOWING IN TOWN
&&
024PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
757 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0752 PM TORNADO 4 SSE RULETON 39.29N 101.84W
05/23/2010 SHERMAN KS STORM CHASER
MULTIPLE REPORTS OF BRIEF TORNADO
&&
FOLTZPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
808 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0752 PM HAIL 7 N RULETON 39.44N 101.89W
05/23/2010 E1.25 INCH SHERMAN KS NWS EMPLOYEE
&&
FOLTZPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
815 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0807 PM TORNADO 9 NNE GOODLAND 39.46N 101.64W
05/23/2010 SHERMAN KS ASOS
STOVEPIPE TORNADO VISIBLE FROM NWS GOODLAND
&&
FOLTZPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
836 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0816 PM TORNADO 14 N EDSON 39.53N 101.56W
05/23/2010 SHERMAN KS STORM CHASER
STORM CHASER REPORTED CONE TORNADO. RELAYED VIA SPOTTER
NETWORK.
&&
FOLTZPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
845 PM MDT SUN MAY 23 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0755 PM HAIL 8 NW GOODLAND 39.43N 101.82W
05/23/2010 E1.00 INCH SHERMAN KS TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
MLAMMERSThe Goodland radar (KGLD), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:53 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Power lines reported down on highway 40 just west of the state line. A cattle feeder and cattle shed were also damaged.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, May 2010
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: 230587, 230590, 230592.