An isolated supercell thunderstorm moved from Imperial, Nebraska southeast to Benkelman, and traveled across northwest Kansas through Bird City, McDonald, to Colby and Oakley before weakening across Gove county Kansas. Widespread wind and hail damage was reported with the storm through the late afternoon hours.
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.
An isolated supercell thunderstorm moved from Imperial, Nebraska southeast to Benkelman, and traveled across northwest Kansas through Bird City, McDonald, to Colby and Oakley before weakening across Gove county Kansas. Widespread wind and hail damage was reported with the storm through the late afternoon hours. A second strong thunderstorm moved southeast during the evening, producing large hail over Hitchcock county Nebraska and Norton county Kansas.
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 8, 3:14 PM CST, 1 hour 36 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 314 PM MDT MON AUG 8 2011 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT-WEDNESDAY)... 312 PM MDT MON AUG 8 2011 SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS A COLD FRONT MOVING SOUTH THROUGH THE HIGH PLAINS. CURRENT SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS CUMULUS CLOUDS DEVELOPING ALONG THE NORTHERN PERIPHERY OF THE UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE OVER NORTHERN COLORADO AND WYOMING. A FEW STORMS HAVE ALREADY BEGUN TO DEVELOP AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES SOUTH. TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE CWA DURING THE EVENING HOURS. THE STORMS WILL BE MORE LIKELY EAST OF THE COLORADO BORDER DUE TO SURFACE CONVERGENCE AND MORE CAPE AND MID LEVEL MOISTURE IN THAT AREA. AS DAY TIME HEATING AND THE SURFACE CONVERGENCE SUBSIDE...THUNDERSTORMS WILL BEGIN TO DISSIPATE. OVERNIGHT SOME AREAS MAY SEE PATCHY FOG THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING AS WINDS TURN TO THE SOUTHEAST. TUESDAY A COLD FRONT WILL BEGIN TO MOVE THROUGH THE CWA DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON. A 700MB SHORT WAVE TROUGH WILL ACCOMPANY THE FRONT AS IT MOVES THROUGH...HELPING TO ENHANCE THE LIFTING ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT. DURING THE AFTERNOON THE ENVIRONMENT WILL BECOME UNSTABLE AHEAD OF THE FRONT...CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. WITH SLOW STORM MOTIONS AND PLENTIFUL MOISTURE...HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF TRAINING THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE FRONT AS IT MOVES THROUGH. DURING THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT THE LOW LEVEL JET DEVELOPS...WHICH WILL HELP FUEL THE THUNDERSTORMS. AS THE NIGHT PROGRESSES THE 700MB SHORT WAVE TROUGH AND STRONGER 850 WINDS SHIFT EASTWARD. MODELS ALSO SHOW STRONG 700MB TO 500MB FRONTOGENESIS IN THAT AREA OVERNIGHT INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. AM THINKING THE RAINFALL WILL BEGIN TO END OVER THE FAR WESTERN CWA OVERNIGHT AS THE 700MB SHORT WAVE TROUGH SHIFTS EAST. WITH THE PROLONGED RAINFALL OVER THE FAR EASTERN CWA...FLOODING MAY OCCUR IN SOME AREAS. WILL HOLD OFF ON ISSUING A WATCH FOR NOW AS THERE HAS NOT BEEN A LOT OF RAINFALL OVER THOSE AREAS FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS. WEDNESDAY RAIN WILL CONTINUE INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS...COMING TO AN END BY THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING FROM WEST TO EAST AS THE SHORT WAVE TROUGH MOVES EAST. KEPT IN THE SLIGHT CHANCES IN THE WESTERN CWA AS ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE...MAINLY DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON...AS A 700MB SHORT WAVE TROUGH DEVELOPS OVER EASTERN COLORADO. KEPT IN ISOLATED CHANCES FOR THE EVENING FOR ANY LINGERING CONVECTION THAT MOVES EAST DURING THAT TIME. .LONG TERM (THURSDAY-MONDAY)... 312 PM MDT MON AUG 8 2011 WESTERLY UPPER LEVEL FLOW WILL START OUT THE LONG TERM...AS THE UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS OVER THE SOUTHERN CONUS. HAVE CHANCES FOR RAINFALL EVERY DAY AS A MINOR DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE OVER ALL OR PART OF THE CWA ALMOST EVERY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. FRIDAY A SHORT WAVE TROUGH WILL MOVE THROUGH THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW NORTH OF THE CWA. THIS WILL BRING A COLD FRONT THROUGH THE CWA...BRINGING WITH IT THE BEST CHANCES FOR WIDE SPREAD RAINFALL DURING THE PERIOD. CURRENTLY THE FRONT IS FORECAST TO STALL ALONG THE SOUTHEAST BORDER OF THE CWA FRIDAY EVENING...BEFORE CONTINUING SOUTH SATURDAY. DURING THE WEEKEND THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE GREAT BASIN...CAUSING THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW TO BECOME NORTHWEST. MONDAY THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BEGINS TO WEAKEN...BRINGING THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW OVER THE CWA ONCE AGAIN. JTL && .AVIATION... 1118 AM MDT MON AUG 8 2011 FOR THE 18Z TAFS...WINDS HAVE BEEN SLOW TO SHIFT TO NORTHERLY BUT ARE EXPECTED TO TRANSITION TO NORTHERLY...THEN NORTHEASTERLY...AS A SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM DEEPENS TO THE SOUTH OF THE REGION. THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON...WITH BETTER CHANCES NEAR KMCK THAN KGLD. WITH LIGHT WINDS AND MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES OVERNIGHT...AND HIGH SOIL MOISTURE GIVEN RECENT RAINFALL...THERE IS A POSSIBILITY FOR FOG DURING THE MORNING HOURS. CONSIDERING MODEL GUIDANCE AND SOUNDINGS...HAVE BROUGHT BOTH TERMINALS DOWN TO MVFR DURING THE MORNING...BUT FOG SHOULD BE FAIRLY SHALLOW. ANY FOG WILL DISSIPATE AS MIXING INCREASES AFTER SUNRISE. CJS && .GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KS...NONE. NE...NONE. CO...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 1026 AM MDT MON AUG 8 2011 COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-091200- YUMA-KIT CARSON-CHEYENNE CO-CHEYENNE KS-RAWLINS-DECATUR-NORTON- SHERMAN-THOMAS-SHERIDAN-GRAHAM-WALLACE-LOGAN-GOVE-GREELEY-WICHITA- DUNDY-HITCHCOCK-RED WILLOW- 1026 AM MDT MON AUG 8 2011 /1126 AM CDT MON AUG 8 2011/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...NORTHWEST KANSAS AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. A FEW SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE...WITH LARGE HAIL....DAMAGING WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN THE PRIMARY THREATS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THE WEEK...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR THUNDERSTORMS NEARLY EVERY DAY. A FEW SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT HOURS. THE BEST CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE ON TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
344 PM MDT MON AUG 8 2011
NEZ079-082245-
DUNDY-
344 PM MDT MON AUG 8 2011
...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND HAS ISSUED A SIGNIFICANT
WEATHER ADVISORY FOR DUNDY COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...
AT 340 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES NORTHWEST OF CHAMPION...OR 11 MILES WEST
OF IMPERIAL...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL BE
NEAR BENKELMAN AROUND 445 PM MDT.
PENNY TO NICKEL SIZE HAIL...AND WINDS TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH
THIS STORM.
BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER IN THE EVENT THESE STORMS INTENSIFY AND
BECOME SEVERE.
&&
LAT...LON 4016 10132 4015 10133 4000 10161 4035 10187
4036 10152
TIME...MOT...LOC 2144Z 326DEG 24KT 4050 10183
THEDEPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
422 PM MDT MON AUG 08 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0420 PM HAIL 17 N PARKS 40.29N 101.73W
08/08/2011 M0.88 INCH DUNDY NE CO-OP OBSERVER
&&
MLAMMERSPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
430 PM MDT MON AUG 08 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0421 PM HAIL 22 NW BENKELMAN 40.28N 101.83W
08/08/2011 E0.88 INCH DUNDY NE TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
MLAMMERSThe Goodland radar (KGLD), 45 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:49 UTC.
14 thunderstorm wind, 11 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Six to eight inch diameter tree limbs broken. Large trees blown down on the west side of town.
A couple trees uprooted along highway 161. One of the trees was 40 feet tall and one and a half feet in diameter. Other trees had ten-inch diameter limbs broken off the top. The metal roof of a building was torn off. Wind gust and time of report were estimated from Doppler radar.
Power lines reported down in Bird City.
A house reportedly lost part of its roof.
Estimated wind gusts of over 70 MPH reported.
A tree was split and blown across highway 36.
Spotter estimated peak winds to be near 70 mph.
Shingles were blown off a house roof.
Newspaper photo showed a hailstone measuring 2.75 inches in diameter from a farm south of Levant.
Trees were blown down in town, some power lines were down and a couple businesses in town had windows broken.
Tree branches down in town. Some localized minor street flooding occurring in town.
A semi-truck was blown over, with no injuries reported.
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: 332182, 332197, 332183, 332184, 334107, 332185, 332186, 332187, 332226, 332189, 332190, 332191, 332227, 332192, 332193, 332195, 332202, 332231, 332204, 332206, 332233, 332208, 332234, 332198, 332216.