On August 5, scattered thunderstorms formed in the early morning hours. Damaging winds up to 60 mph were reported across portions of north central Kansas.
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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 TOP wrote it up.
On August 5, scattered thunderstorms formed in the early morning hours. Damaging winds up to 60 mph were reported across portions of north central Kansas. Minor damage, consisting of broken tree limbs and downed power lines, was reported across the areas with the strongest winds.
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 5, 2:44 AM CST, 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 344 AM CDT FRI AUG 5 2011 .DISCUSSION... FOCUS ON REPEATED CONVECTIVE CHCS ALONG WITH IMPACTS ON TEMPS. ONGOING SVR CONVECTION ASSOCIATED WITH MCV/MODEST MID LVL WAVE IS BEING SUPPORTED BY RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF UPPER JET AND 30KT LLJ FEEDING INTO THE SE FLANK OF THE MAIN CONVECTIVE CLUSTER. WILL GO CATEGORICAL FOR STORMS THIS MORNING WITH SCT RE- DEVELOPMENT POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON ESPECIALLY IN PROXIMITY TO THE SFC BOUNDARY WHICH MAY REMAIN JUST SOUTH OF THE CWA TODAY. BY TONIGHT ANOTHER WAVE WILL MOVE OUT OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS WHICH SHOULD HELP ORGANIZE THE LLJ ALONG WITH WAA AND LIFT ACROSS THE REGION AGAIN. EXPECT ADDITIONAL STORMS TO DEVELOP MAINLY ACROSS THE EASTERN COUNTIES AFTER MIDNIGHT SO HIGHEST POPS WILL REMAIN ACROSS THIS AREA. DEPENDING ON THE EXTENT OF CONVECTION FRI NIGHT/SAT MORNING SATURDAY COULD BE ANOTHER VERY HOT DAY. HOWEVER GIVEN UNCERTAINTY ABOUT CONVECTION AND REMNANT CLOUDS AND IMPACT ON TEMPS WILL HOLD OFF ON ANY HEAT ADVISORY FOR NOW. THE OVERALL LONGWAVE PATTERN WILL FINALLY BEGIN TO CHANGE BY LATER SUNDAY INTO NEXT WEEK AS THE UPPER RIDGE SHIFTS WEST AND A TROUGH DEVELOPS ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES. THIS WILL PLACE KS IN AN ACTIVE ZONE FOR REPEATED BOUTS OF CONVECTION WITHIN THE STRONGER NW FLOW ALOFT WHILE AT THE SAME TIME HELPING TO COOL TEMPERATURES BACK TOWARD SEASONAL AVGS OR PERHAPS BELOW. && .AVIATION... WEAK SHORTWAVE AND MCV EMERGING OUT OF WESTERN KS IN CONJUNCTION WITH MODEST SOUTHEAST LLVL JET WILL HELP TO MAINTAIN MCS EASTWARD THROUGH THE NIGHT INTO THE TAF SITES AFT 10Z...BUT GRADUALLY WEAKENING AGAIN. WILL KEEP TEMPO GROUP IN THE 10-14Z TIMEFRAME WITH BRIEF MVFR CIGS POSSIBLE ALTHOUGH POTENTIAL IFR CIGS/FOG NOT LOOKING AS FAVORABLE AS WITH PREVIOUS MODEL RUNS AND NOT SUPPORTED BY CURRENT MESO TRENDS. WILL IMPROVE ALL TAF CIGS/VSBYS TO VFR AND DRY IN THE 13Z-18Z TIMEFRAME BUT KEEP A STRATOCU DECK AROUND 4KFT. WINDS SHOULD REMAIN GENERALLY EAST TO NORTHEAST UNDER 10KTS. && .TOP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 329 PM CDT THU AUG 4 2011 KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-052030- REPUBLIC-WASHINGTON-MARSHALL-NEMAHA-BROWN-CLOUD-CLAY-RILEY- POTTAWATOMIE-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-OTTAWA-DICKINSON-GEARY-MORRIS- WABAUNSEE-SHAWNEE-DOUGLAS-LYON-OSAGE-FRANKLIN-COFFEY-ANDERSON- 329 PM CDT THU AUG 4 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL...NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY AFTER MIDNIGHT ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL...NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS COULD POP UP JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE ACROSS THE AREA FOR FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS SHOULD NOT BE NEEDED TONIGHT. WOLTERS
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 308 AM CDT FRI AUG 5 2011 KSZ008-020-034-050900- CLOUD-OTTAWA-REPUBLIC- 308 AM CDT FRI AUG 5 2011 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR REPUBLIC...OTTAWA AND CLOUD COUNTIES... THROUGH 400 AM CDT...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH ACROSS PORTIONS OF REPUBLIC...OTTAWA AND CLOUD COUNTIES. THIS LINE OF STORMS HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING STRONG WINDS OF 40 TO 50 MPH...HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING. SOME LOCATIONS THAT COULD BE AFFECTED INCLUDE COURTLAND...ADA... JAMESTOWN...TESCOTT...REPUBLIC...GLASCO...SCANDIA...NORWAY... DELPHOS...CULVER...MINNEAPOLIS...CONCORDIA...CONCORDIA AIRPORT... BELLEVILLE...BENNINGTON...MUNDEN...WELLS...AURORA...NILES...CUBA... NARKA...MILTONVALE...CLYDE AND AGENDA. && LAT...LON 4000 9737 3896 9737 3896 9794 4001 9793 TIME...MOT...LOC 0806Z 244DEG 37KT 3987 9807 3886 9810
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 110 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:47 UTC.
6 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The ASOS station in Concordia reported a 66 mph wind gust. Meanwhile at another location near Concordia a law enforcement officer reported an estimated 60 mph wind gust.
In Clay Center 7 to 9 inch diameter tree limbs were snapped at 9th Street and Dexter as a result of strong thunderstorm winds.
A trained spotter near Palmer reported a 60 mph wind gust.
In Manhattan, tree limbs snapped causing transformers to explode and fail.
Strong thunderstorms brought down a few tree limbs, breaking down power lines.
In Westmoreland a couple mailboxes were blown down.
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: 343255, 343248, 343258, 343250, 343262, 343251.