An extended period of dry weather began to worsen across portions of Southwest and South Central Kansas during the second half of April. Areas south and west of Wichita began to creep into the the severe drought category (D2).
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 ICT wrote it up.
An extended period of dry weather began to worsen across portions of Southwest and South Central Kansas during the second half of April. Areas south and west of Wichita began to creep into the the severe drought category (D2).
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 Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 25, 10:59 PM CST, 1 hour 1 minute earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 1159 PM CDT MON APR 25 2011 .AVIATION...06Z TAFS KRSL/KSLN/KHUT/KICT/KCNU PRIMARY FOCUS CONTINUES TO BE ON BEHAVIOR OF INTENSIFYING CYCLONE MOVING NE FROM MO TO IL THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT...AS ALL FACETS OF FORECAST HINGE ON IT'S RATE OF NE MOVEMENT. PER 11-3.9U IMAGERY WRN PERIPHERY OF MVFR STRATOCU ADVANCING SLOWLY...BUT CONSISTENTLY EWD TOWARD CNTRL KS AT 26/06Z. AS SUCH AM STILL CONFIDENT THAT KRSL WILL REMAIN IN VFR STATUS THE REST OF THE NIGHT WITH SOME 5SM BR POSSIBLE ~26/11Z AS WINDS DIMINISH & SKIES CLEAR. KHUT...KSLN & KICT ARE STILL EXPECTED TO ACHIEVE VFR STATUS 26/11Z-26/12Z WITH KCNU LIKELY TO REMAIN IN MVFR CIG STATUS TIL MID TUE-AFTERNOON. && PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 243 PM CDT MON APR 25 2011/ DISCUSSION... MAIN FORECAST UPDATES WILL FOCUS ON ENDING RAINFALL OVER SOUTHEAST KANSAS WITH POSSIBLE FROST IN CENTRAL KANSAS TONIGHT...FOLLOWED BY NEXT ROUND OF PRECIPITATION FOR TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY AND WARMER TEMPERATURES LATE IN THE WORK WEEK. TONIGHT THE UPPER WAVE WILL LIFT NORTHEAST INTO IOWA AS ISENTROPIC DOWNGLIDE QUICKLY OVERSPREADS THE REGION FROM WEST TO EAST TONIGHT WITH PRECIPITATION ENDING OVER SOUTHEAST KANSAS. IT WILL BE A CHILLY NIGHT OVER CENTRAL KANSAS AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF THE STATE. THE COMBINATION OF LIGHT WINDS AND CLEARING SKIES COULD GIVE WAY TO FROST DEVELOPMENT...THUS WILL INSERT SOME PATCHY FROST FOR AREAS GENERALLY ALONG AND WEST OF HIGHWAY 14 IN CENTRAL KANSAS TOWARDS MORNING. TUE-THU TWO MORE COOL BELOW NORMAL DAYS WILL BE ON TAP FOR KANSAS BEFORE WARMER AIR MOVES BACK INTO THE REGION ON THURSDAY. THE NEXT UPPER WAVE CURRENTLY LOCATED OVER OREGON PER SATELLITE WATER VAPOR IMAGERY WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE ROCKIES AND EJECT EASTWARD INTO THE PLAINS ON TUESDAY. THIS WILL INDUCE ISENTROPIC LIFT OVER WESTERN KANSAS TOMORROW MORNING WITH SHOWERS AND A FEW EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS SPREADING EASTWARD INTO CENTRAL/SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THE PRECIPITATION WILL MOVE SLOWLY EAST ACROSS THE AREA FOR TUESDAY NIGHT AND TAPER OFF WEDNESDAY MORNING. SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED WITH ANY OF THIS ACTIVITY DUE TO LIMITED INSTABILITY FOR THIS PERIOD. THE UPPER WAVE MOVES INTO THE GREAT LAKES REGION ON THURSDAY WITH WARMER AIR AND DOWNSLOPE EFFECTS BOOSTING DAYTIME TEMPERATURES INTO THE 70S FOR KANSAS. EXTENDED: FRI-MON DRY WARM AND WINDY CONDITIONS EXPECTED FOR FRIDAY WITH ELEVATED PRECIPITATION ACTIVITY FAVORED NORTH OF THE WARM FRONT OVER EASTERN NEBRASKA AND IOWA. MEANWHILE...NEXT UPPER TROUGH WILL DEEPEN OVER ROCKIES ON SATURDAY WITH A STRONG COLD FRONT SURGING SOUTHEAST ACROSS KANSAS DURING THE DAY. DECENT GULF MOISTURE WILL STREAM NORTHWARD IN ADVANCE OF THE FRONT BUT TIMING OF THE FRONT ENCOUNTERING THIS MOISTURE FOR SHOWERS/STORMS WILL BE THE MAIN CHALLENGE. THE LATEST GUIDANCE WOULD SUGGEST THE SURFACE FRONT AFFECTING SOUTHEAST KANSAS FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON WHICH MATCHES OUR CURRENT PRECIPITATION FORECAST. OTHERWISE...MUCH COOLER AIR WILL SPREAD INTO THE AREA BEHIND THE FRONT FOR SUNDAY. FIRE WEATHER... FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS WILL REMAIN LOW OVER THE ENTIRE AREA THROUGH MID-WEEK WITH CLOUDS AND CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION KEEPING FIRE DANGER LEVELS LOW. WARMER TEMPERATURES AND GUSTY SOUTH WINDS WILL ELEVATED FIRE LEVELS ON FRIDAY BUT RECENT RAINFALL SHOULD DIMINISH CURING VALUES AS GRASSES CONTINUE TO GREEN. JAKUB && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... WICHITA-KICT 39 63 44 62 / 10 30 50 20 HUTCHINSON 37 62 43 63 / 10 30 50 20 NEWTON 39 62 44 62 / 10 20 40 20 ELDORADO 41 63 44 62 / 20 20 50 30 WINFIELD-KWLD 41 64 45 62 / 20 20 60 30 RUSSELL 34 61 40 64 / 10 40 40 10 GREAT BEND 34 61 41 65 / 10 40 50 10 SALINA 36 62 43 62 / 10 20 30 10 MCPHERSON 37 62 43 63 / 10 30 40 20 COFFEYVILLE 46 67 46 61 / 40 10 50 40 CHANUTE 44 65 46 60 / 30 10 40 30 IOLA 44 65 46 60 / 40 10 40 30 PARSONS-KPPF 45 66 46 60 / 40 10 50 30 && .ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 1007 PM CDT MON APR 25 2011 KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-270315- RUSSELL-LINCOLN-BARTON-ELLSWORTH-SALINE-RICE-MCPHERSON-MARION-CHASE- RENO-HARVEY-BUTLER-GREENWOOD-WOODSON-ALLEN-KINGMAN-SEDGWICK-HARPER- SUMNER-COWLEY-ELK-WILSON-NEOSHO-CHAUTAUQUA-MONTGOMERY-LABETTE- 1007 PM CDT MON APR 25 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL...SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT FLOODING IS ONGOING AND EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS TIL EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. THE GREATEST RISK OF FLOODING IS SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM ERIE TO SEDAN. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE OVER SOUTHEAST KANSAS TIL AROUND MIDNIGHT...BUT WILL BE NEITHER STRONG NOR SEVERE. IN ADDITION...PATCHY FROST COULD DEVELOP OVER CENTRAL KANSAS TOWARD MORNING...PRIMARILY ALONG AND WEST OF HIGHWAY 14...AS TEMPERATURES DROP INTO THE LOWER AND MID 30S. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY PATCHY FROST WILL AFFECT PORTIONS OF CENTRAL KANSAS EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE FOR ALL AREAS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND TUESDAY NIGHT...BUT WILL NEITHER STRONG NOR SEVERE. A VERY HIGH FIRE DANGER IS POSSIBLE FRIDAY AFTERNOON OVER CENTRAL KANSAS WITH DRY AND WINDY WEATHER FORECAST. THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEAST KANSAS SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT WHICH MAY BE QUITE STRONG WITH SMALL HAIL AND WINDS AROUND 50 MPH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TONIGHT. && FOR A GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS INFORMATION...SEE OUR WEBPAGE AT (LOWERCASE) HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/WICHITA/HWO/HWO.PHP ES/CDJ
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
A drought began to worsen across South Central Kansas during the last part of the month. The drought reached D2 levels across the area during the week of April 26th and lasted through the end of the month.
A drought began to worsen across South Central Kansas during the last part of the month. The drought reached D2 levels across the area during the week of April 26th and lasted through the end of the month.
A drought began to worsen across South Central Kansas during the last part of the month. The drought reached D2 levels across the area during the week of April 26th and lasted through the end of the month.
A drought began to worsen across South Central Kansas during the last part of the month. The drought reached D2 levels across the area during the week of April 26th and lasted through the end of the month.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, April 2011
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: 312038, 312040, 312041, 312043.