Localized very strong northeasterly winds associated with a wake low affected Russell county during the late evening on the 21st. Wind gusts at the Russell Airport were measured at 64 mph.
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 ICT wrote it up.
Localized very strong northeasterly winds associated with a wake low affected Russell county during the late evening on the 21st. Wind gusts at the Russell Airport were measured at 64 mph. Two semi-trucks with trailers were blown over on Interstate 70 east of Russell.
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 Mar 21, 5:41 PM CST, 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 641 PM CDT WED MAR 21 2012 .AVIATION...00Z TAFS KRSL/KSLN/KHUT/KICT/KCNU WIDESPREAD MVFR CONDITIONS WITHIN LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN PREVAILED EARLY THIS EVENING. AS SKIES BEGIN TO CLEAR FROM THE SOUTH...ANY RADIATIONAL COOLING WILL LEAD TO RAPID STRATUS/FOG DEVELOPMENT AND THE POSSIBILITY OF WIDESPREAD IFR DEVELOPING DUE TO RAIN-MOISTENED BOUNDARY LAYER AND LIGHT WINDS...ESPECIALLY AFTER 06-08Z. MWM && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 327 PM CDT WED MAR 21 2012/ DISCUSSION... TONIGHT: FINER DETAILS ON PRECIPITATION STILL A BIT FUZZY...BUT APPEARS THAT COVERAGE SHOULD BE MAXIMIZED IN THE NORTHWEST AND LEAST IN THE SOUTHEAST THIS EVENING...WITH AN INCREASE ACROSS PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL KS AFTER MIDNIGHT. INSTABILITY IS VERY LIMITED SO ISOLATED IF ANY THUNDERSTORMS ARE ANTICIPATED. AS HAS BEEN TREND THE PAST FEW DAYS...WILL GO SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE GUIDANCE ON TEMPERATURES AND DEWPOINTS. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE/PRECIPITATION AND LITTLE IF ANY ADVECTION WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES/DEW POINTS HIGH OVERNIGHT. THU-THU NIGHT: ALL MODELS GENERALLY IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH TRACK OF SURFACE/ UPPER LOW...WITH MAIN DIFFERENCES IN THE MOISTURE/PRECIPITATION FIELDS. POOR MANS ENSEMBLE APPROACH WORKED WELL YESTERDAY AND USE IT AGAIN THESE PERIODS. BELIEVE PRECIPITATION WILL BE MAIN SCATTERED IN THE MORNING...WITH INCREASE DURING THE AFTERNOON...ESPECIALLY OVER SOUTHEAST KS JUST AHEAD OF LOW. BY THU NIGHT...CHANCES WILL START TO DIMINISH IN THE WEST WITH SOLID CHANCE PRECIPITATION IN THE EAST. ONCE AGAIN...WENT WILL ABOVE GUIDANCE FOR MINIMUMS. FRI-SAT: WITH SYSTEM EXITING PRECIPITATION WILL BE ON THE WANE...BUT WITH THE SLIGHTLY SLOWER MOVEMENT THAN WAS ADVERTIZED THAN YESTERDAY... EASTERN SECTIONS COULD SEE SCATTERED PRECIPITATION THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. CHANCES SHOULD DWINDLE QUICKLY AT SUNSET. MAXES A TOUGH CALL BOTH DAYS...WITH CLEARING LINE SOMEWHERE ACROSS THE AREA ON FRI. ANTICIPATE THAT VERY WET GROUND WILL LIMIT WARMUP BOTH DAYS GIVEN RELATIVELY LIGHT LOW LEVEL FLOW. SUN-WED: DRYING/WARMING TREND STILL APPEARS LIKELY FOR SUN-MON. EFFECT OF SOIL MOISTURE WILL VERY LIKELY LINGER ON SUN...AND POSSIBLY INTO MON. UNFORTUNATELY BOTH GFS/ECMWF ARE NOW SHOWING CONSIDERABLE RUN TO RUN AND MODEL TO MODEL VARIABILITY WITH SYSTEM ON TUE-WED. THIS MOST NOTEABLY AFFECTS MOISTURE/PRECIPITATION CHANCES ON TUE/TUE NIGHT...AND MAXES ON BOTH TUE/WED. CONSENSUS SUGGEST SMALL POPS ARE WARRANTED FOR WED ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA...GIVEN LIKLIHOOD THAT FRONT WILL BE SOMEWHERE IN THE AREA DURING THE DAY. WOULD HAVE PREFERRED TO GO DRY TUE/TUE NGT. -HOWERTON FIRE WEATHER... WIDESPREAD RAIN SHOULD PRECLUDE ANY SIGNIFICANT FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS THROUGH FRI. ANTICIPATE RAIN ACROSS THE AREA WILL RESULT IN RAPID GREEN-UP AND LIMIT FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS BY THE WEEKEND. -HOWERTON AVIATION...18Z TAFS KRSL/KSLN/KHUT/KICT/KCNU MAIN CONCERNS: IFR/MVFR CIGS/VSBYS. UPPER DIFFLUENCE/MID-LEVEL DEFORMATION ON NORTH SIDE OF SOUTHERN PLAINS UPPER LOW...SHOULD ALLOW WIDESPREAD RAIN OVER SOUTHEAST KS TO DEVELOP/EXPAND NORTHWESTWARD INTO CENTRAL AND PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL KS THIS AFTERNOON. THIS ACTIVITY SHOULD SHIFT TO PRIMARILY WESTERN THRU NORTH CENTRAL KS THIS EVENING BEFORE LIFTING NORTHWEST OUT OF AREA LATE TONIGHT. MVFR/IFR CIGS/VSBYS EXPECTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH RAIN THIS AFTERNOON. ONCE THE RAIN ENDS TONIGHT...EXPECTING WIDESPREAD IFR TO DEVELOP DUE TO RAIN- MOISTENED BOUNDARY LAYER AND LIGHT WINDS. JMC && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... WICHITA-KICT 50 56 48 66 / 60 70 30 10 HUTCHINSON 49 57 46 66 / 70 60 20 10 NEWTON 47 56 49 64 / 50 70 40 10 ELDORADO 49 55 49 63 / 40 70 40 20 WINFIELD-KWLD 48 53 48 66 / 60 70 30 10 RUSSELL 47 54 42 66 / 90 30 10 10 GREAT BEND 46 54 42 66 / 90 40 10 10 SALINA 50 57 47 66 / 80 50 30 10 MCPHERSON 49 57 48 65 / 70 60 30 10 COFFEYVILLE 54 59 50 60 / 20 80 50 20 CHANUTE 53 59 49 60 / 20 80 60 30 IOLA 54 60 49 60 / 20 80 60 30 PARSONS-KPPF 54 58 49 60 / 20 80 60 20 && .ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 427 PM CDT WED MAR 21 2012 KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-222130- 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- 427 PM CDT WED MAR 21 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL KANSAS... SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT FLOODING CONTINUES ON THE NEOSHO RIVER IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS. REFER TO THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENTS FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY RIVER FLOODING WILL PERSIST INTO THURSDAY ALONG THE NEOSHO RIVER IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS. REFER TO THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENTS FOR DETAILS. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THURSDAY AFTERNOON. SOME OF THE STORMS IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS COULD PRODUCE SMALL HAIL. NO WIDESPREAD OR SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED. THE NEXT WEATHER SYSTEM COULD BRING A ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA BY NEXT TUESDAY. THERE IS CONSIDERABLE UNCERTAINTY ON THE TIMING OF THIS SYSTEM...AND STORMS MAY NOT ARRIVE UNTIL TUE NIGHT OR EVEN WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TONIGHT. && FOR A GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS INFORMATION...SEE OUR WEBPAGE AT (LOWERCASE) HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/WICHITA/HWO/HWO.PHP HOWERTON
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Measured at the Russell Airport. Two semi-trucks with trailers were blown over on Interstate 70 east of Russell.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, March 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: 369064.