Strong northwest winds developed over central Kansas on the 26th in wake of a strong cold front. While most reported wind gusts remained below 50 mph, a few gusts reached to around 60 mph at the Russell Airport during the mid-afternoon hours.
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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 ICT wrote it up.
Strong northwest winds developed over central Kansas on the 26th in wake of a strong cold front. While most reported wind gusts remained below 50 mph, a few gusts reached to around 60 mph at the Russell Airport during the mid-afternoon hours.
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 Nov 26, 11:29 AM CST, 2 hours 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 1129 AM CST SAT NOV 26 2011 .AVIATION...18Z TAFS KRSL/KSLN/KHUT/KICT/KCNU SURFACE COLD FRONT STRETCHED FROM NORTHEAST CORNER OF MISSOURI SOUTHWEST INTO EASTERN OKLAHOMA. BEHIND THE FRONT...HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE CENTRAL ROCKIES WITH A VERY STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT THROUGH THE CENTRAL PLAINS. THIS IS RESULTING IN NORTH WINDS AT 25-30 KTS WITH HIGHER GUSTS. ESPECIALLY IN THE VICINITY OF THE KRSL AND KSLN SITES WILL SEE GUSTS TO THE 45-50 KT RANGE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. MVFR CEILINGS WITH AREAS OF LIGHT RAIN EAST OF AN ARK CITY TO EMPORIA LINE. CEILINGS AND RAIN WILL DRIFT TO THE SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES EASTWARD. WEST OF THAT LINE...VFR CONDITIONS. ALL AREA SHOULD BE VFR BY 00Z. WINDS WILL DIMINISHING AFTER SUNSET...REMAINING OUT OF THE NORTH AT SPEEDS AROUND 20 KTS. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 538 AM CST SAT NOV 26 2011/ AVIATION...12Z TAFS KRSL/KSLN/KHUT/KICT/KCNU THE MAIN AVIATION FORECAST CONCERN IS VERY STRONG NORTHWESTERLY WINDS AND THE TIMING OF THE PRECIPITATION EXITING THE REGION. WIDESPREAD RAIN SHOWERS WITH AN OCCASIONAL EMBEDDED THUNDER STRIKE WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH EASTWARD THIS MORNING. EXPECT RAIN TO CEASE FROM KICT...EAST THIS MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON. VERY STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE DAY TODAY. KRSL AND KSLN WILL TAKE THE BRUNT OF THE WIND...BUT ALL SITES WILL BE GUSTY. KRSL IS ALREADY EXPERIENCING GREATER THAN 30 KTS SUSTAINED WITH GREATER THAN 40-45 KT GUSTS. EXPECT 30-35 KTS SUSTAINED WITH GUSTS 40-50 KTS THROUGHOUT THE DAY AT ALL SITES EXCEPT KCNU. CEILINGS HAVE ALREADY RISEN TO VFR AS THE STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS HAVE PROMOTED MIXING AND DRYER LOW LEVELS. THE ONLY REMAINING SITE IN IFR IS KCNU AT TAF ISSUANCE TIME...BUT EXPECT THAT TO BECOME VFR SHORTLY AFTER 12Z/SAT. BILLINGS PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 333 AM CST SAT NOV 26 2011/ DISCUSSION... TODAY: WINDS WILL EASILY EXCEED ADVISORY CRITERIA OVER CENTRAL...SOUTH CENTRAL KS...AND IS BORDERLINE ACROSS SOUTHEAST KS. WILL ALSO BE VERY CLOSE TO HIGH WIND WARNING CRITERIA ACROSS CENTRAL KS ALONG AND WEST OF HIGHWAY 14...WITH ISOLATED AREAS POSSIBLE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL KS PER NAM BOUNDARY LAYER WINDS. MAIN CONCERN IS THAT THE PRESSURE GRADIENT LOOKS MARGINAL FOR WIND ADVISORY...BUT WILL BE PRIMARILY RELYING ON MIXING/MOMENTUM TRANSFER WHICH APPEARS TO BE GOOD TO VERY GOOD. PRECIPITATION WILL GRADUALLY COME TO AN END FROM WEST TO EAST AS FRONT/UPPER SUPPORT MOVING OUT. LATEST RUNS ARE A BIT SLOWER WITH THE CLEARING...WHICH COULD IMPACT TEMPERATURES AND WINDS. TONIGHT-SUN NIGHT: COLDER TEMPERATURES STILL EXPECTED AS COLD AIR ADVECTION CONTINUES. WIND SHOULD DIMINISH BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA AROUND SUNSET. LIMITED WARMUP EXPECTED ON SUN. WITH SURFACE RIDGE MOVING ACROSS SUN NIGHT...CLEAR SKIES AND LOW DEW POINTS...SHOULD HAVE NEAR IDEAL RADIATIONAL COOLING AND DROPPED TEMPERATURES CLOSER TO MODEL OUTPUT STATISTICS WHICH MAY STILL BE TOO WARM GIVEN ANTICIPATED DEW POINTS. MON-FRI: WHILE OVERALL UPPER PATTERN HAS ROUGHLY CONVERGED ON A SOLUTION FOR THE LONG WAVE EVOLUTION...WOULD PREFER TO STICK CLOSER TO THE ECMWF WHICH HAS BEEN FAIRLY CONSISTENT OVER THE PREVIOUS FEW RUNS. SHOULD SEE A BIT MORE OF A WARMUP ON MON AHEAD OF THEN NEXT SHORTWAVE. PER ECWMF RIPPLE WILL LEAD TO A BIT MORE HIGH CLOUDS IN WEST-NORTH WEST UPPER FLOW ON TUE WHICH COULD LIMIT WARMUP ON WED. NEXT FRONT APPEARS TO BE IN THE OFFING FOR THU...WITH RIDGING ON FRI. WITH LITTLE MOISTURE RETURN AHEAD OF THESE WEAK SYSTEMS...DO NOT FORESEE ANY PRECIPITATION DURING THIS PERIOD.. -HOWERTON FIRE WEATHER... BASED ON LATEST GFDI FORECASTS...WILL SPLIT THE REMAINING FIRE WEATHER WATCH...NIXING EASTERN SECTION AND UPGRADING TO RED FLAG WARNING IN THE SOUTHWEST. DRIER AIR AND VERY STRONG WINDS SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO DRY FINE FUELS THIS AFTERNOON AND BOOST FIRE DANGER. -HOWERTON AVIATION...06Z TAFS KRSL/KSLN/KHUT/KICT/KCNU THERE ARE 2 MAJOR HAZARDS TO BE DEALT WITH THRU 27/00Z. THE FIRST: IS THAT IFR CIGS 600-800FT CIGS WILL SHROUD ALL OF SC KS TIL ~09Z & SE KS TIL ~15Z. WIDESPREAD RA WILL FREQUENTLY REDUCE VSBYS TO 3-5SM IN THESE AREAS THE REST OF THE NGT. ALTHOUGH PREDOMINANTLY VFR KSLN MAY EXPERIENCE PERIODS OF MVFR CIGS (~1,500FT) & 4-5SM VSBYS DURING PERIODS OF -RA TIL ~12Z. BY THESE TIMES A STRONG(!) COLD FRONT WILL HAVE SURGED SE ACROSS THESE AREAS THEREBY SCOURING THE LOW CLOUDS & RAINS E/S FROM THESE AREAS. THE SECOND: IMMEDIATELY AFTER COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE...N/NW WINDS WILL QUICKLY INCREASE TO A SUSTAINED 26KTS/30MPH OVER ALL OF CNTRL & SC KS 12Z-15Z DURING WHICH TIME GUSTS ~35KTS ARE LIKELY. STRONGEST WINDS TO OCCUR FROM 15Z-23Z WITH 30-35KTS SUSTAINED ACROSS CNTRL & SC KS WHERE ~45KT GUSTS WILL OCCUR. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF CNTRL & SC KS THROUGHOUT THE DAY ON SAT & MAY BE UPGRADED TO A HIGH WIND WARNING IN CNTRL KS. FURTHERMORE AN EXTREME FIRE DANGER WILL EXIST OVER CNTRL KS. AS SUCH...ANY FIRES THAT GET STARTED WOULD CAUSE SUDDEN & VERY RAPID VSBY RESTRICTIONS. ~27/00Z NW WINDS SHOULD GREATLY DIMINISH TO 17-22KTS/20-25MPH AS THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED COLD FRONT SURGES SE ACROSS THE MS VALLEY WITH STRONG HIGH PRESSURE FOLLOWING IN ITS WAKE. ES && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... WICHITA-KICT 26 49 24 59 / 0 0 0 0 HUTCHINSON 25 49 24 60 / 0 0 0 0 NEWTON 25 47 24 58 / 0 0 0 0 ELDORADO 25 46 23 57 / 0 0 0 0 WINFIELD-KWLD 26 48 23 59 / 0 0 0 0 RUSSELL 22 50 21 60 / 0 0 0 0 GREAT BEND 22 50 21 61 / 0 0 0 0 SALINA 25 50 22 59 / 0 0 0 0 MCPHERSON 25 49 23 59 / 0 0 0 0 COFFEYVILLE 31 46 25 55 / 10 0 0 0 CHANUTE 29 45 22 54 / 10 0 0 0 IOLA 28 45 22 54 / 10 0 0 0 PARSONS-KPPF 30 46 22 55 / 10 0 0 0 && .ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR KSZ032-033- 047>051-067-068-082-083-091. WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR KSZ032-033-047>053- 067>070-082-083-091>094-098. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 1218 PM CST SAT NOV 26 2011 KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-271830- 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- 1218 PM CST SAT NOV 26 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL KANSAS... SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A FEW LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE EAST OF AN ARKANSAS CITY TO IOLA LINE THIS AFTERNOON. VERY STRONG NORTH WINDS HAVE PROMPTED A WIND ADVISORY FOR MOST OF THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. REFER TO THE LATEST WIND ADVISORY FOR DETAILS. FIRE DANGER WILL BE VERY HIGH TO EXTREME OVER ALL OF CENTRAL... SOUTH CENTRAL AND PARTS OF SOUTHEAST KANSAS TODAY. REFER TO THE LATEST RED FLAG WARNING FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY VERY HIGH FIRE DANGER IS FORECAST ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON...ROUGHLY WEST OF A LINE FROM SALINA TO NEWTON TO ANTHONY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT. && FOR A GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS INFORMATION...SEE OUR WEBPAGE AT (LOWERCASE) HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/WICHITA/HWO/HWO.PHP
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
813 AM CST SAT NOV 26 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0811 AM HEAVY RAIN 1 N LITTLE RIVER 38.42N 98.02W
11/26/2011 M0.90 INCH RICE KS TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
ARLThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Russell Airport ASOS measured a few wind gusts around 60 mph during the mid-afternoon hours. No reports of damage were received.
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, November 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: 353154.