Heavy rain fell overnight across Gove county with cooperative observers reporting 2-3 inches of rain. Unofficial reports of 5-9 inches were received from county employees 8-10 miles south of Gove City.
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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.
Heavy rain fell overnight across Gove county with cooperative observers reporting 2-3 inches of rain. Unofficial reports of 5-9 inches were received from county employees 8-10 miles south of Gove City. Minor field flooding and full ditches were observed during the morning. Additional heavy rainfall during the afternoon resulted in flooding in local areas of the county especially from the city of Gove to about 10 miles south.
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 19, 2:39 PM CST, 49 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 239 PM MDT WED MAY 19 2010 .DISCUSSION... 238 PM MDT WED MAY 19 2010 17Z WATER VAPOR IMAGERY INDICATED LOW CENTER ALOFT WAS CENTERED ACROSS THE CWA. AT THE SFC A WEAK TROUGH AXIS EXTENDED FROM BENKELMAN TO HOXIE TO TRIBUNE...WITH LOCAL OBSERVATIONS SUGGESTING WEAK SFC LOW CIRCULATION NEAR THE TRIBUNE AREA. MAIN CONCERN FOR THE FORECAST PERIOD WILL BE CONTINUED PRECIPITATION THREAT AND HYDROLOGICAL ISSUES...COMBINED WITH WARM UP EXPECTED FOR THE START OF THE WEEKEND. TONIGHT...H5 TROUGH WILL SLOWLY MIGRATE TO THE EAST THROUGH THE NIGHT AS ATMOSPHERE BEGINS TO STABILIZE. THINK PRECIPITATION WILL TRANSITION TO LIGHT TO MODERATE STRATIFORM PRECIPITATION FAIRLY QUICKLY AND THINK BEST WAY TO HANDLE CURRENT HYDRO ISSUES WILL BE WITH WARNINGS AND DO NOT PLAN ON ISSUING ANY WATCHES AT THIS TIME. OTHERWISE FORCING FOR ALOFT BEGINS TO DIMINISH OVERNIGHT...WITH 305K SURFACES SUGGESTING WE GO TO DOWNGLIDE FAIRLY EARLY IN THE EVENING. AS A RESULT HAVE REFRAINED FROM RAISING POPS MUCH FROM CURRENT FCST EXCEPT FOR THE EASTERN CWA...AND WILL MAKE A LAST MINUTE CALL BASED ON OBSERVATIONS THIS AFTERNOON. DO THINK PRECIP WILL BEGIN TO END OVERNIGHT AND HAVE TRENDED POPS IN THIS DIRECTION. BASED ON CURRENT RADAR/SAT TRENDS...LOOKS LIKE HEAVIEST PRECIP MAY FALL NEAR/NORTHEAST OF THE CLOSED CIRCULATION AND UPPED QPF VALUES IN THIS AREA. THURSDAY-THURSDAY NIGHT...H5 TROUGH WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY DRIFT TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE DAY...WITH DEEP LAYER DIV Q FIELDS INDICATING STRONG FORCING FOR DECENT SPREADING ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA. THETA E LAPSE RATES SUGGESTS A FEW POCKETS OF INSTABILITY WILL BE PRESENT IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF THE THE H5 CIRCULATION. ALTHOUGH HAVE CONCERNS THAT SUBSIDENCE WILL WIN OUT...WANT TO OLD ON TO PRECIP CHANCES FOR A LITTLE BIT OF THE MORNING TO ALLOW FOR SOME FLEXIBILITY FOR TROUGH TIMING. EXPECT SKIES TO CLEAR OVERNIGHT AS SHORT WAVE RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE AREA. WITH RECENT RAINFALL AND SFC RIDGE AXIS BRINGING LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS EXPECT SOME FOG TO DEVELOP OVERNIGHT. FRIDAY-SATURDAY...SHORT WAVE RIDGE WILL BE PRIMARY INFLUENCE ACROSS THE AREA FRIDAY MORNING...BUT AS STRONG TROUGH DEVELOPS ACROSS THE WESTERN CONUS WILL BEGIN TO SEE CYCLOGENESIS INCREASE TO THE WEST OF THE AREA. WINDS SHOULD REALLY BEGIN TO INCREASE DURING THE MORNING HOURS WITH SUSTAINED WINDS IN THE 20-25KT RANGE LIKELY BY THE AFTERNOON. GFS AND NAM HAVE BIG DIFFERENCES IN STRENGTH OF CAP DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS...WITH NAM ACTUALLY TRIGGERING CONVECTION BY 00Z. WHILE HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT CAP...PERSISTENT SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW MAY BE ENOUGH TO FIRE OFF A STORM AND HAVE ADDED LOW POPS FOR THE AREA NEAR EXPECTED DRYLINE. WITH CAP STRENGTH AN ISSUE THOUGH...WILL KEEP POPS CONFINED TO FAIRLY SMALL AREA. ON SATURDAY A SIMILAR PATTERN WILL DEVELOP WITH WELL DEFINED DRY LINE EXPECTED ACROSS CENTER PORTION OF THE AREA. QUESTION WILL ONCE AGAIN BE HOW STRONG AFTERNOON CINH WILL BE AS TEMPS ALOFT WARM AND CWA WILL BE UNDER INFLUENCE OF LARGE RIDGE AXIS. WHILE THINK THE CAP WILL HOLD ON SATURDAY AS TEMPS AT H7 WARM ABOUT 4 C...POINT SOUNDINGS FROM THE NAM CONTINUE TO SUGGEST CAP WILL ERODE BY 21Z. WHILE GFS DOES NOT LOOK AS OPTIMISTIC. WILL PUT SOME VERY LOW CHANCES FOR TSRA IN FORECAST EVEN THOUGH UNCERTAIN ABOUT INITIATION...AS CAPE/SHEAR PROFILES LOOK FAVORABLE FOR STRONG/SEVERE STORMS AND WANT TO AT LEAST MENTION THREAT FOR STORMS. IN THE EXTENDED...DEVELOPMENT OF LONG WAVE TROUGH ACROSS WESTERN CONUS WILL BE PRIMARY CONCERN FOR THE EXTENDED PERIODS...AS TROUGH PLACEMENT WILL HAVE A LARGE IMPACT ON EXPECTED WEATHER ACROSS THE AREA. MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ALL GENERALLY AGREE IN DEVELOPMENT OF TROUGH...BUT DIFFERENCES IN AMPLITUDE AND PLACEMENT REMAIN. GEM MUCH BROADER THAN BOTH ECMWF/GFS...WITH DIFFERENCES IN BETWEEN THOSE TWO MORE ABOUT TIMING OF INDIVIDUAL SHORT WAVE TROUGHS THAN OVERALL AMPLITUDE OF THE SYSTEM. WITH TROUGH IN PLACE TO THE WEST LOOKS LIKE FAIRLY STOUT DRYLINE WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA WHICH MAY PROVIDE THE FOCUS FOR A FEW STORMS THROUGH THE PERIOD. FINE TUNED CURRENT FORECAST A BIT TO ACCOUNT FOR EXPECTED MOVEMENT DUE TO EMBEDDED SHORT WAVE TROUGH IN THE SUNDAY/MONDAY TIME FRAME BUT GENERALLY LEFT FORECAST AS IS. STILL A LOT OF CONCERN ABOUT CAPPING STRENGTH AND MODELS NOT BEING VERY AGGRESSIVE BREAKING OUT PRECIPITATION KEEP CONFIDENCE TOO LOW TO RAISE PROBABILITIES. WITH TROUGH TO THE WEST...FLOW ALOFT WILL PROVIDE FAVORABLE SHEAR PROFILES FOR A FEW ROUNDS OF SEVERE WEATHER. OTHERWISE EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO REMAIN ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD...ALTHOUGH A GENERAL COOLING TREND IS EXPECTED AS H5 RIDGE BREAKS DOWN AND FRONTAL ZONE MOVES INTO THE AREA. JRM && .AVIATION... 1152 AM MDT WED MAY 19 2010 FOR THE 18Z TAFS...UPPER LOW WILL MOVE SLOWLY ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH TOMORROW MORNING. AS A RESULT...CONDITIONS WILL GO BETWEEN IFR AND MVFR THROUGH THE ENTIRE PERIOD DEPENDING ON THE INTENSITY OF THE PRECIPITATION. BULLER && .GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KS...NONE. NE...NONE. CO...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 1101 AM MDT WED MAY 19 2010 COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-201200- YUMA-KIT CARSON-CHEYENNE CO-CHEYENNE KS-RAWLINS-DECATUR-NORTON- SHERMAN-THOMAS-SHERIDAN-GRAHAM-WALLACE-LOGAN-GOVE-GREELEY-WICHITA- DUNDY-HITCHCOCK-RED WILLOW- 1101 AM MDT WED MAY 19 2010 /1201 PM CDT WED MAY 19 2010/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...NORTHWEST KANSAS AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT WIDESPREAD RAIN SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO TONIGHT. DUE TO A LACK OF STRONG INSTABILITY AND SHEAR...THESE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING BEING THE MAIN THREATS. HOWEVER...IF MORE CLEARING OCCURS THAN EXPECTED...THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL BE GREATER. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AT THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK AS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM APPROACHES THE AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT. BULLER
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
1053 AM MDT WED MAY 19 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0600 AM HEAVY RAIN 4 S TRIBUNE 38.41N 101.75W
05/19/2010 M3.00 INCH GREELEY KS TRAINED SPOTTER
OVERNIGHT TOTAL ENDING AT 6 AM MDT.
&&
JMARTINPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
1111 AM MDT WED MAY 19 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0654 PM TORNADO 17 SSW BETHUNE 39.08N 102.54W
05/18/2010 KIT CARSON CO PUBLIC
TORNADO LASTED ABOUT THREE MINUTES IN OPEN FIELD.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY GENERAL PUBLIC.
&&
MENTZERThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Six inches of water was reported running over streets in the city of Gove with many reports of ponding elsewhere in the county, especially south of Gove city.
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, 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: 228024.