Outflow from thunderstorms earlier in the day over Nebraska helped trigger new storms during the afternoon over Rawlins county. As the afternoon progressed, storms increased in coverage, and more storms moved into the region from eastern Colorado.
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.
Outflow from thunderstorms earlier in the day over Nebraska helped trigger new storms during the afternoon over Rawlins county. As the afternoon progressed, storms increased in coverage, and more storms moved into the region from eastern Colorado. Most reports from the public and spotters were for heavy rainfall and isolated hail, but one heavy rain event led to damage as a police car had to be abandoned due to high water in Colby.
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 Aug 4, 12:01 PM CST, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 1201 PM MDT THU AUG 4 2011 .UPDATE... 1038 AM MDT THU AUG 4 2011 TRICKY TEMPERATURE SITUATION ACROSS THE CWA AS MORNING CLOUDS AND FOG HAVE CREATED COOL POCKETS WITH TEMPERATURES AS MUCH AS 10 DEGREES COOLER THAN NEARBY LOCATIONS. VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW THE LOW CLOUDS AND STRATUS DIMINISHING WITH SOME HIGH CLOUDS DEVELOPING. WITH MANY LOCATIONS IN THE LOW 80S ALREADY...HAVE WARMED TEMPERATURES INTO THE LOW 90S ACROSS THE CWA EXCEPT FOR THE NORTHEAST CORNER. MCCOOK IS STILL IN THE UPPER 70S SO KEPT THAT AREA JUST UNDER 90 FOR A HIGH. ALSO RAISED CHANCES FOR RAIN THIS AFTERNOON AS MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW STRONG LIFTING AHEAD OF THE NEXT SHORT WAVE TROUGH OVER THE WESTERN CWA AS WELL AS INSTABILITY AND PLENTIFUL MID LEVEL MOISTURE OVER THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL CWA. AM THINKING THE ISOLATED STORMS WILL DEVELOP FIRST OVER AREAS WEST OF A BENKELMAN TO OAKLEY LINE DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON. DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON THE STORMS WILL BECOME MORE NUMEROUS OVER THAT AREA AND MAY DEVELOP/MOVE INTO THE REST OF THE CWA. JTL && .DISCUSSION... 247 AM MDT THU AUG 4 2011 A FLATTENED RIDGE WILL REMAIN ANCHORED OVER THE SOUTHERN/CENTRAL PLAINS THROUGH SATURDAY. FLOW WILL BE WESTERLY OVER THE TOP OF THE RIDGE ACROSS NORTHWEST KANSAS. BY SATURDAY THE RIDGE BEGINS TO AMPLIFY SOME. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN OVER NORTHWEST KANSAS THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT FOLLOWED BY WEAK LOW PRESSURE SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. BOUNDARY LAYER RH WILL EXCEED 90 PERCENT ACROSS MOST OF THE FA EARLY THIS MORNING AND CONTINUE THROUGH MID MORNING BEFORE DECREASING. STRATUS WILL HANG ON THE LONGEST IN THE NORTHEAST ZONES. PLAN TO HAVE FOG IN THE GRIDS THROUGH MID MORNING. SUBSIDENCE WILL BE IN PLACE OVER THE FA THIS MORNING SO POPS WILL BE NIL. EXPECT STORMS TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON IN EASTERN COLORADO WHERE EASTERLY WINDS WILL PROVIDE SOME FOCUS. SHORTWAVE ENERGY IS ADVERTISED TO PROVIDE FORCING ACROSS THE FA TONIGHT. PLAN TO INCREASE POPS TO 40 PERCENT POPS. SUBSIDENCE WILL FOLLOW THE WAVE FRIDAY MORNING WHEN POPS WILL BE NIL. THE NEXT WAVE COMES THROUGH FRIDAY. THE WAVE APPEARS TO COME THROUGH EARLY SO THAT BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON IT WILL AFFECT MAINLY EAST OF THE COLORADO LINE. CONSEQUENTLY POPS WILL BE CHANCE IN KANSAS AND SLIGHT CHANCE OVER EASTERN COLORADO. POPS WILL DECREASE FROM WEST TO EAST FRIDAY EVENING AS THE WAVE MOVES FURTHER EAST. THE NEXT WAVE PROVIDES FORCING OVER EASTERN COLORADO SATURDAY AFTERNOON. FORCING THEN SHIFTS OVER THE SOUTHWEST ZONES SATURDAY EVENING. PLAN TO GO WITH SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR THOSE TWO PERIODS. MAX TEMPERATURES WILL WARM SOME TODAY/FRIDAY WITH READINGS IN THE UPPER 80S. LOWER 90S SHOULD BE REACHED ON SATURDAY AS 850MB TEMPERATURES RISE TO AROUND 30 C. MIN TEMPERATURES WILL RANGE FROM 65 IN THE WESTERN FA TO NEAR 70 IN THE EAST. FS && .AVIATION... 1144 AM MDT THU AUG 4 2011 VFR TO MVFR CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED FOR THIS PERIOD. JUST PRIOR TO TAF ISSUANCE KMCK REPORTED MVFR CEILINGS. WENT AHEAD AND PLACED A TEMPO GROUP FOR THAT UNTIL 21Z. NEXT ISSUE FOR BOTH SITES WILL BE THUNDERSTORMS. KMCK LOOKS TO BE EAST OF THE BEST ENVIRONMENT FOR THUNDERSTORMS...BUT DID INCLUDE A CB GROUP AS THE BETTER ENVIRONMENT IS NOT FAR AWAY AND MEAN WIND WOULD BRING THUNDERSTORMS TOWARD KMCK. BETTER CHANCES FOR KMCK WILL BE AFTER 0Z THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. FOR KGLD CURRENT RADAR AND SATELLITE SHOW A CONVERGENCE AREA AND DEVELOPING CUMULUS NEAR COLBY. WITH LITTLE TO NO INHIBITION IN PLACE PUT A CB GROUP IN AT 19Z WITH A TEMPO GROUP FOR 21Z TO 0Z AS ENVIRONMENT LOOKS BETTER FOR CONVECTION DURING THAT TIME FRAME. OVERNIGHT BOTH SITES WILL BE DEALING WITH THUNDERSTORMS AND FOG...BUT ONLY LOWERED CONDITIONS TO MVFR FOR NOW. JTL && .GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KS...NONE. NE...NONE. CO...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 1057 AM MDT THU AUG 4 2011 COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-051700- YUMA-KIT CARSON-CHEYENNE CO-CHEYENNE KS-RAWLINS-DECATUR-NORTON- SHERMAN-THOMAS-SHERIDAN-GRAHAM-WALLACE-LOGAN-GOVE-GREELEY-WICHITA- DUNDY-HITCHCOCK-RED WILLOW- 1057 AM MDT THU AUG 4 2011 /1157 AM CDT THU AUG 4 2011/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...NORTHWEST KANSAS AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ACROSS THE TRI-STATE AREA. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH HEAVY RAINFALL FOR THE SLOW MOVING STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE EACH AFTERNOON AND NIGHT FROM FRIDAY THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. ALTHOUGH THE CHANCE FOR WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS LOW...THE STRONGER STORMS WILL PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
108 PM MDT THU AUG 4 2011
KSZ002-NEZ080-041930-
HITCHCOCK-RAWLINS-
208 PM CDT THU AUG 4 2011
...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND HAS ISSUED A SIGNIFICANT
WEATHER ADVISORY FOR RAWLINS COUNTY IN NORTHWEST KANSAS AND HITCHCOCK
COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...
AT 207 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THAT
THUNDERSTORMS WERE RAPIDLY DEVELOPING 9 MILES NORTH OF BLAKEMAN.
THESE STORMS WERE NEARLY STATIONARY.
PENNY TO NICKEL SIZE HAIL...AND WINDS TO 55 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH
THESE STORMS.
BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER IN THE EVENT THESE STORMS INTENSIFY AND
BECOME SEVERE.
&&
LAT...LON 3985 10097 3984 10140 4000 10139 4001 10132
4006 10132 4009 10098
TIME...MOT...LOC 1908Z 180DEG 1KT 3994 10118
JLUNDQUIThe Goodland radar (KGLD), 78 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:58 UTC.
6 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Public also reported 2.25 inches of rain between 1415 CDT and 1630 CDT. No reports of flooding or damage were received. Hail ranged from pea to nickel size. Time of nickel hail report estimated from radar.
Spotter estimated peak thunderstorm winds near 70 mph.
Spotter estimated peak thunderstorm winds near 60 mph.
Four inches of rain fell during the evening near Roads 80 and 21 in extreme northern Sherman county, resulting in rapid runoff in nearby fields.
Police car had to be abandoned after 2.10 inches of rain fell in 45 minutes causing the engine to become flooded.
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, August 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: 332149, 332138, 332139, 332150, 332140, 332141, 332142, 332143, 332154, 332152.