Although the coverage of storms was limited on this Tuesday afternoon and evening, the first severe thunderstorm event of 2012 featured the first-ever documented February tornado within this six-county portion of North Central Kansas. This EF0 tornado touched down five miles southeast of Randall in Jewell County at 528 PM and tracked east for roughly two miles, tearing a metal roof from a farm…
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 GID wrote it up.
Although the coverage of storms was limited on this Tuesday afternoon and evening, the first severe thunderstorm event of 2012 featured the first-ever documented February tornado within this six-county portion of North Central Kansas. This EF0 tornado touched down five miles southeast of Randall in Jewell County at 528 PM and tracked east for roughly two miles, tearing a metal roof from a farm outbuilding along the way. Other than this tornado, the only other severe weather report was a 63 MPH wind gust at the Phillipsburg airport, from a combination of strong winds behind a passing cold front and downdrafts from light rain showers falling through dry air.
Breaking down the event, a few non-severe elevated thunderstorms lifted from north to south across the area between 10 AM and 12 PM. In the wake of this early activity, modest clearing and resultant destabilization worked into western portions of the area during the early afternoon, in association with an advancing mid level dry slot. As a result, a few non-severe storms first developed into portions of Rooks and Phillips Counties between 215 PM and 3 PM. Around 330 PM, the thunderstorm cluster that would eventually produce the tornado near Randall initiated just south of the area near Interstate 70. As this storm cluster drifted northeast into Osborne, Mitchell and southeast Jewell Counties it became increasingly organized, and rapidly assumed supercell characteristics and strong low-level rotation near and northeast of Beloit, before exiting the local area into Republic and northwest Cloud counties. A few more linear storms affected Jewell and Mitchell Counties after 7 PM, but all thunderstorms exited the six-county area by 8 PM.
On the synoptic scale, this was a classic early-season severe weather setup for the area, featuring a strong, negatively tilted mid and upper level trough ejecting out of the Central Rockies into the Central Plains. At the surface, a well-defined surface low pressure system deepened to around 994 millibars as it tracked from east-central Colorado at mid-day, to central Nebraska by late afternoon. To the south of this low, a well-defined cold front and dryline surged east into central Kansas, sparking supercell development. Late afternoon mesoscale parameters revealed a highly-sheared but only modestly unstable environment with surface dewpoints only in the low-mid 50s. Although surface-based CAPE only averaged around 1000 J/kg, both deep layer vertical wind shear and low-level 0-1 kilometer shear were quite impressive, topping out around 70 knots and 30-40 knots, respectively. At the time of the tornado in Jewell County, effective storm relative helicity values were at least 500 m2/s2.
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 Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 28, 5:26 PM CST, 2 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 526 PM CST TUE FEB 28 2012 .AVIATION...00Z TAF. THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE FOR A COUPLE HOURS UNTIL THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE KGRI TERMINAL AREA. WINDS WILL TURN TO THE WEST WITH THE FRONT BUT SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE FOR A TIME BEHIND THE FRONT. WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE BREEZY THROUGH THE NIGHT AND INTO WEDNESDAY. BY AFTERNOON THE WINDS WILL START TO DIMINISH GRADUALLY. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 401 PM CST TUE FEB 28 2012/ SHORT TERM...TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. MAIN FORECAST CONCERN WILL BE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. LATEST RADAR SHOWS THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOPED ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THIS MORNING HAVE MOVED OUT OF THE AREA. SURFACE ANALYSIS HAS THE SURFACE LOW IN NORTHEAST COLORADO. A WARM FRONT EXTENDS TO THE EAST FROM THE LOW AND COLD FRONT TO THE SOUTH. SATELLITE HAS CLEARING BEHIND THE COLD FRONT. EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ALONG THE COLD FRONT THIS AFTERNOON THEN MOVE TO THE NORTHEAST THROUGH THE EVENING...THEN BE OUT OF THE AREA BY MIDNIGHT. MOST UNSTABLE CAPE VALUES ARE AROUND 750 TO 1000 J/KG DEPENDING ON THE MODEL AND SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO GET THE THUNDERSTORMS GOING. THE SHEAR IS STRONG ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. LATE THIS EVENING THE PRECIPITATION WILL BE MORE RAIN AND AS COLDER AIR MOVES INTO THE AREA IN THE NORTHWEST THE RAIN MAY MIX WITH SNOW. BEHIND THIS SYSTEM LATE TONIGHT THE WINDS FROM THE WEST WILL CONTINUE TO BE BREEZY. SKIES WILL CLEAR OUT AS THE SYSTEM MOVES OFF TO THE NORTHEAST. WINDS CONTINUE ON WEDNESDAY BUT AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT LOOSENS DURING THE AFTERNOON WINDS WILL START TO DIMINISH. MUCH DRIER AIR MOVES INTO THE AREA BEHIND THIS SYSTEM AS WELL AND WITH MIXING DOWN DRIER AIR HAVE KEPT THE DEW POINTS LOWER DURING THE AFTERNOON ON WEDNESDAY. WILL HAVE TO CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS AREA FOR FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS DURING THE AFTERNOON. LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. BY THURSDAY MORNING...THE NEXT UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE WILL PROGRESS INTO THE COLORADO ROCKIES WHILE A LOW AMPLITUDE RIDGE WILL BUILD ACROSS THE PLAINS. SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL RETURN TO THE PLAINS HELPING INCREASE TEMPERATURES ON THURSDAY. HOWEVER...AHEAD OF THE SHORTWAVE...A SURFACE BOUNDARY WILL PUSH THROUGH THE WESTERN PORTION OF THE CWA BY AROUND NOON ON THURSDAY AND COMPLETELY THROUGH THE CWA BY AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING. WITH THIS INITIAL PUSH...A WIND SHIFT TO WEST NORTHWEST CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS ON THURSDAY. THE MAIN SHORTWAVE WILL BEGIN TO SLIDE INTO THE REGION BEGINNING THURSDAY NIGHT. BOTH THE GFS AND THE EC SUGGEST A PRECIPITATION BAND WILL BEGIN TO DEVELOP AFTER 0Z FRIDAY SETTING UP ACROSS SOUTHERN NEBRASKA AND NORTHERN KANSAS. SOME ISENTROPIC LIFT IS ALSO PRESENT AMONG BOTH MODELS OVER THE SAME AREA MAINLY THROUGH 12Z FRIDAY AND THEN CONTINUES TO SHIFT EAST WITH THE MAIN WAVE ENERGY. BOTH MODELS ALSO KEEP PRECIPITATION AROUND THROUGH 18Z FRIDAY. THERE REMAINS SOME QUESTION AS TO PRECIPITATION TYPE. MODEL SOUNDINGS FROM BOTH THE GFS AND THE EC SUGGEST SNOW. HOWEVER...WITH THE ONSET OF PRECIPITATION AND ALSO TOWARDS THE END OF THE EVENT...TEMPERATURES WILL LIKELY BE AT OR NEAR 40 DEGREES SUGGESTING THE POSSIBILITY FOR A RAIN SNOW MIX AND OR JUST RAIN. THEREFORE...DECIDED TO LEAVE A RAIN SNOW MIX IN THE FORECAST AND MENTION RAIN FOR THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA TOWARDS THE END OF THE SYSTEM WHERE TEMPERATURES CLIMB ABOVE 40. WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY ON THURSDAY...DECIDED TO LOWER HIGH TEMPERATURES SLIGHTLY AS THE FRONT WILL LIKELY MOVE THROUGH BEFORE THE MAIN HEATING OF THE DAY. HIGH TEMPERATURES ON FRIDAY MAY ALSO NEED TO BE LOWERED SLIGHTLY WITH THE ONSET OF PRECIPITATION DURING THE DAY. BEHIND THE SYSTEM...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BEGIN TO BUILD BACK INTO THE REGION BEGINNING ON SATURDAY AND WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THE REST OF THE LONG TERM PERIOD. NO PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED AND WHILE FRIDAY WILL BE THE COOLEST DAY OF THE PERIOD...EACH SUBSEQUENT DAY WILL LIKELY BE SLIGHTLY WARMER WITH MONDAY THE WARMEST DAY OF THE PERIOD WITH SEVERAL SITES NEAR 60 DEGREES. && .GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. KS...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR KSZ005-006-017-018. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 424 PM CST TUE FEB 28 2012 KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087- 291200- PHILLIPS-SMITH-JEWELL-ROOKS-OSBORNE-MITCHELL-VALLEY-GREELEY-NANCE- SHERMAN-HOWARD-MERRICK-POLK-DAWSON-BUFFALO-HALL-HAMILTON-YORK- GOSPER-PHELPS-KEARNEY-ADAMS-CLAY-FILLMORE-FURNAS-HARLAN-FRANKLIN- WEBSTER-NUCKOLLS-THAYER- 424 PM CST TUE FEB 28 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EARLY EVENING. THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR A FEW THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME SEVERE...WITH HAIL TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS OF 60 MPH THE PRIMARY HAZARDS. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR PHILLIPS...ROOKS...SMITH...AND OSBORNE COUNTIES OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WIND ADVISORY MESSAGE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. ON WEDNESDAY...BREEZY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS. WEST WINDS WITH SPEEDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH AND GUSTS NEAR 40 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE...PRIMARILY ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. DURING THE AFTERNOON...THE COMBINATION OF GUSTY WINDS...ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND LOWER DEWPOINTS WILL RESULT IN AN ELEVATED FIRE DANGER ACROSS AREAS ALONG AND WEST OF A LINE FROM SUMNER NEBRASKA TO BELOIT KANSAS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HASTINGS (ALL LOWERCASE)
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
449 PM CST TUE FEB 28 2012
KSZ007-019-282315-
JEWELL KS-MITCHELL KS-
449 PM CST TUE FEB 28 2012
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR JEWELL AND NORTHERN MITCHELL
COUNTIES UNTIL 515 PM CST...
AT 447 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR GLEN ELDER...OR 9 MILES WEST OF BELOIT...
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.
HAIL UP TO ONE-HALF INCH IN DIAMETER AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE
EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.
LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
BELOIT...
IONIA...
SCOTTSVILLE...
ESBON...
JEWELL...
RANDALL...
MANKATO...
BURR OAK...
MONTROSE...
FORMOSO...
LOVEWELL STATE PARK...
WEBBER...
LAT...LON 3951 9848 4000 9850 4000 9793 3949 9793
3940 9824
TIME...MOT...LOC 2248Z 216DEG 42KT 3952 9825
GUERREROSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 458 PM CST TUE FEB 28 2012 NEZ046-047-282330- HOWARD NE-SHERMAN NE- 458 PM CST TUE FEB 28 2012 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHEASTERN SHERMAN AND WESTERN HOWARD COUNTIES UNTIL 530 PM CST... AT 456 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR RAVENNA...OR 27 MILES WEST OF GRAND ISLAND...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF PENNIES AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... ROCKVILLE... BOELUS... ASHTON... FARWELL... ELBA... COTESFIELD... THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO AND TV STATIONS...AS WELL AS LOCAL CABLE TV OUTLETS... FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. LAT...LON 4139 9832 4104 9864 4105 9900 4140 9869 TIME...MOT...LOC 2258Z 215DEG 34KT 4107 9884 WESELY
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 512 PM CST TUE FEB 28 2012 KSZ007-018-019-290000- JEWELL KS-MITCHELL KS-OSBORNE KS- 512 PM CST TUE FEB 28 2012 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR JEWELL...MITCHELL AND EXTREME NORTHEASTERN OSBORNE COUNTIES UNTIL 600 PM CST... AT 510 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR GLEN ELDER...OR 7 MILES WEST OF BELOIT... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 65 MPH. HAIL UP TO ONE-HALF INCH IN DIAMETER AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... IONIA... SCOTTSVILLE... JEWELL... ESBON... RANDALL... MANKATO... BURR OAK... MONTROSE... FORMOSO... LOVEWELL STATE PARK... WEBBER... LAT...LON 4000 9850 4000 9792 3923 9794 3922 9850 TIME...MOT...LOC 2312Z 213DEG 56KT 3953 9822 GUERRERO
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
517 PM CST TUE FEB 28 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0515 PM HAIL 8 NW BELOIT 39.55N 98.21W
02/28/2012 E0.25 INCH MITCHELL KS PUBLIC
PEA SIZE HAIL CURRENTLY FALLING AND COVERING THE GROUND.
&&
SALTZMANSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 520 PM CST TUE FEB 28 2012 KSZ005>007-017-018-290000- JEWELL KS-OSBORNE KS-PHILLIPS KS-ROOKS KS-SMITH KS- 520 PM CST TUE FEB 28 2012 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR EXTREME WESTERN JEWELL... OSBORNE...EXTREME NORTHEASTERN PHILLIPS...EXTREME EASTERN ROOKS AND SMITH COUNTIES UNTIL 600 PM CST... AT 516 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR PORTIS...OR 32 MILES WEST OF BELOIT...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 65 MPH. HAIL UP TO ONE-HALF INCH IN DIAMETER AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... ATHOL... SMITH CENTER... BELLAIRE... LEBANON... LAT...LON 3997 9908 4000 9849 3916 9850 3913 9906 TIME...MOT...LOC 2320Z 216DEG 56KT 3956 9866 GUERRERO
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
525 PM CST TUE FEB 28 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0523 PM HAIL OSBORNE 39.44N 98.70W
02/28/2012 E0.25 INCH OSBORNE KS PUBLIC
&&
SALTZMANThe Grand Island radar (KUEX), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:25 UTC.
1 tornado, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A weak tornado, with peak winds estimated at 75 mph, touched down briefly southeast of Randall. Damage consisted of a few broken power poles, sheared off trees and a metal roof being torn from an outbuilding.
The AWOS at the Phillipsburg Airport recorded a wind gust of 63 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Kansas, 2012Warnings in Kansas, February 2012
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: 360696, 360694.