The afternoons of August 10th and 11th 2010 brought many short-lived thunderstorms to portions of northeastern Kansas. These storms were short-lived, however, when they collapsed they produced strong gusts of wind which caused damage to numerous trees and structures.
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.
The afternoons of August 10th and 11th 2010 brought many short-lived thunderstorms to portions of northeastern Kansas. These storms were short-lived, however, when they collapsed they produced strong gusts of wind which caused damage to numerous trees and structures.
On Tuesday August 10th, Pottawatomie County Emergency Manager was taking shelter from the storms in one of the the structures damaged by 70 to 80 mph winds when the roof was blown away. Near Louisville, 6 power poles were damaged or broken by the strong winds. Aside from the damage in Pottawatomie County, trained spotters throughout the area reported 60 to 70 mph winds from these short bursts of wind.
On Wednesday August 11th, another round of thunderstorms kicked off in the mid afternoon. More tree and power pole damage was reported in downtown Lawrence. A telephone pole was snapped near the Coffey County Airport and broken tree limbs did vehicle damage in Burlington.
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 Aug 10, 2:48 PM CST, 32 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 348 PM CDT TUE AUG 10 2010 .DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDS. LATEST WATER VAPOR AND PROFILER DATA SHOWING ONE SHORTWAVE LIFTING NORTHEAST AND BEING SHEARED ACROSS EASTERN KS WHICH IS AIDING CONVECTION TO THE EAST OF THE CWA. THE SOUTHERN EXTENT OF ANOTHER SHORTWAVE LIFTING ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS IS INTERACTING WITH SUB TROPICAL MOISTURE PLUME AND AN AREA OF STRONGER THETAE ADVECTION OVER CENTRAL KS WHICH SHOULD LIFT NORTHEAST ACROSS MAINLY THE NORTHWEST HALF OF THE CWA THIS EVENING ALONG SFC TROUGH...ALTHOUGH ISOLATED CONVECTION STILL POSSIBLE TO THE SOUTHEAST WITH PEAK HEATING WHICH SHOULD DISSIPATE BY SUNSET. AS THE MID LEVEL WAVE AND THETAE AXIS SHIFTS NORTHEAST OVERNIGHT...PRECIP CHANCES WILL BE LOW EXCEPT THE FAR NORTHEAST. STILL A SLIGHT CHANCE HOWEVER WARRANTED OVER THE NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL HOWEVER INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY. HAVE EDGED LOWS TONIGHT UP SLIGHTLY THROUGH THE MID 70S. FEEL LOWER DEWPOINTS WHICH HAVE MIXED DOWN INTO THE SOUTHWEST CWA WILL BE TEMPORARY AND MORE CLOUDS OVERNIGHT WILL OFFSET WEAKER MIXING WITH SFC TROUGH TO GIVE ANOTHER WARM NIGHT. EXPECT CLOUDS AND PRECIP CHANCES TO STEADILY DECREASE THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING LEAVING THE CWA IN LINE FOR ANOTHER MOSTLY SUNNY AND HOT AFTERNOON. WITH HIGHS IN THE 97 TO 102 RANGE HEAT INDICES WILL COMMONLY BE IN THE 105 TO 110 DEGREE RANGE AGAIN. THEREFORE A CONTINUATION OF THE EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING STILL ON TRACK FOR WEDNESDAY. LONG TERM...WEDS NIGHT THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND. THERE WILL BE NO APPRECIABLE CHANGE IN OUR AIRMASS THROUGH FRIDAY. IN FACT...BASED UPON 1000-850MB THICKNESSES AND 850MB TEMPS DAYTIME HIGHS SHOULD AGAIN APPROACH OR EXCEED 100 DEGREES THU AND POTENTIALLY FRI AS THE THERMAL RIDGE IS PULLED NE AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING COLD FRONT. AS A RESULT...WE HAVE EXTENDED THE HEAT WARNING THROUGH FRIDAY. THE MAIN STORY IS THAT THERE WILL BE A COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE SOMETIME LATER FRIDAY NIGHT OR SATURDAY WHICH WILL SERVE TO BRING AT LEAST A CHANCE FOR RAINFALL TO THE AREA MAINLY FRIDAY NIGHT FOLLOWED BY COOLER WEATHER INTO THE WEEKEND. THE OVERALL LONGWAVE PATTERN APPEARS TO BE ADJUSTING TOWARD A TROUGH ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND GREAT LAKES WITH NW FLOW ALOFT ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS. AS THE STRONG/HOT RIDGE MOVES TOWARD THE CENTRAL ROCKIES. THIS WILL PROVIDE THE CHANCE FOR OCCASIONAL COLD FRONTS TO PASS THROUGH THE AREA ALONG WITH TSRA CHCS FROM TIME TO TIME AHEAD OF ANY FRONTS ALONG WITH BOUTS OF ABOVE AVG TEMPS. AT THIS POINT IT APPEARS ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH EARLY NEXT WEEK OR INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION... MID LEVEL THETA E AXIS...PLUME OF MID LEVEL SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE AND SOUTHERN EXTENT OF THE SHORTWAVE LIFTING INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS CONTINUES TO LINE UP ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. THIS WILL BE THE MOST LIKELY AREA OF CONVECTION THROUGH 00Z WHICH THEN SLOWLY SHIFTS EAST AND NORTHEAST ACROSS THE AREA. ONLY CARRIED CB IN THE KMHK TAF IN THE 00Z-06Z TIMEFRAME AS IT MAY CLIP THE AREA. LEFT IT OUT OF THE KTOP/KFOE TAFS WITH ONLY BKN AC AROUND 12KFT. OTHERWISE VFR CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE WITH A WEAK/GRADUAL WINDSHIFT TO THE SOUTHWEST AFT 12Z. && .TOP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING UNTIL 8 PM FRIDAY FOR KSZ008-KSZ009- KSZ010-KSZ011-KSZ012-KSZ020-KSZ021-KSZ022-KSZ023-KSZ024-KSZ026- KSZ034-KSZ035-KSZ036-KSZ037-KSZ038-KSZ039-KSZ040-KSZ054-KSZ055- KSZ056-KSZ058-KSZ059. && WHITMORE/OMITT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 404 PM CDT TUE AUG 10 2010 KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-112115- REPUBLIC-WASHINGTON-MARSHALL-NEMAHA-BROWN-CLOUD-CLAY-RILEY- POTTAWATOMIE-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-OTTAWA-DICKINSON-GEARY-MORRIS- WABAUNSEE-SHAWNEE-DOUGLAS-LYON-OSAGE-FRANKLIN-COFFEY-ANDERSON- 404 PM CDT TUE AUG 10 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL...NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH FRIDAY... ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE TONIGHT. ORGANIZED SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY HEAT INDICES OF 105 TO 115 WILL PERSIST THROUGH FRIDAY. A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA FRIDAY AND WILL BRING A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY INTO EARLY SATURDAY. IT IS TOO EARLY TO DETERMINE IF SEVERE WEATHER WILL OCCUR WITH ANY STORMS AHEAD OF THIS FRONT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TONIGHT.
The Topeka radar (KTWX), 142 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:18 UTC.
10 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A 6 inch tree limb broke at a residence near Tescott. a 4 foot Cottonwood tree was blown down by the strong winds. Time was estimated by the spotter.
Strong thunderstorms brought periods of strong winds and heavy rain to portions of Pottawatomie County on the afternoon of Aug 10, 2010. These storms produced strong winds which broke or damaged 6 power poles near a landfill along Wheaton Road near Louisville. The Kansas Department of Transportation reported a roof was torn off a barn-style metal shed located near Highway 24 and Onaga Road. Many spotters throughout the area reported 60 to 70 mph winds with this storm.
A couple spotters near the community of Alma reported 60 mph wind gusts. Some small tree limbs approximately 1 to 2 inches wide were broken as a result of the winds. One spotter reported that the wind lasted approximately 10 minutes at the residence.
A trained spotter reported a 60 mph wind gust near Silver Lake, which broke some small tree limbs on the property.
Trained spotters in Osage City reported 70 mph wind gusts. Some small tree limbs were also broken across town due to the wind.
Trained spotters near Lawrence reported 60 mph winds.
A trained spotter reported 60 mph winds. a metal flag pole was pushed over as a result of the wind.
At 1550 Delaware and 1100 block of E 1500 Road, power lines were down. Scattered power outages were reported across Lawrence. A power pole was down over N1100 Road.
A law enforcement officer reported 60 mph winds near the City of Lebo., with some small tree limb damage.
Power lines and poles were down along Highway 75 near Coffey County Airport. Time was estimated with radar.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, August 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: 255619, 255602, 255625, 255699, 255701, 255702, 255703, 255704, 255626, 255603, 255705, 255700.