Kansas, 2013

Hail and Heavy Rain in Kansas, April 15 to 18, 2013

April 15 to 18, 2013 · NWS SGF · 3 events in 1 county or zone

A stalled out frontal boundary along with several upper level disturbances produced several rounds of severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall over the area.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS SGF wrote it up.

A stalled out frontal boundary along with several upper level disturbances produced several rounds of severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall over the area.

What forecasters said that day

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 Springfield, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 15, 5:57 PM CST, 4 hours 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 15, 5:57 PM CST, 4 hours 1 minute before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
657 PM CDT MON APR 15 2013

.MESOSCALE DISCUSSION...

00Z RAOB DATA UP TO 400 MB HAS BEEN ANALYZED. MIXED LAYER
INHIBITION MEASURED AT 88 J/KG. INHIBITION VALUES SHOULD BE EVEN
HIGHER FURTHER SOUTH TOWARD THE ARKANSAS BORDER. WITH THIS IN
MIND...SURFACE CONVERGENCE IN ITSELF WILL NOT BE ENOUGH FORCING TO
TRIGGER CONVECTION ACROSS SOUTHERN MISSOURI.

HOWEVER...AS WE PROGRESS THROUGH LATE THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT...A
LOW LEVEL JET WILL BEGIN TO IMPINGE ON THE FRONT ALOFT. THIS
INTERACTION WILL OFFER SOME ELEVATED UPDRAFTS NORTH OF THE SURFACE
FRONT.

MOST UNSTABLE CAPE VALUES ARE EXPECTED TO BE AROUND 1000 TO 1500
J/KG...WITH DECENT NORMALIZED CAPE WITHIN THE -10 TO -30C LAYER.
THIS SUPPORTS A LIMITED RISK FOR LARGE HAIL WITHIN SOME OF THE
MORE ORGANIZED UPDRAFTS. SEE THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR
ADJUSTMENTS THAT WERE MADE.

FINALLY...UPPER LEVEL FLOW WILL BE CONDUCIVE TO A NARROW CORRIDOR
OF TRAINING STORMS. THIS COULD POSE A LIMITED RISK FOR LOCALIZED
HEAVY RAIN AND FLOODING IF STORMS LINE UP JUST RIGHT.

CRAMER

&&

.SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY)
ISSUED AT 245 PM CDT MON APR 15 2013

SEE THE MESOSCALE UPDATE AND SPC MESO DISCUSSION FOR THE NEAR
TERM WEATHER UPDATE.

A WAVY FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTH LATE TONIGHT THEN BACK TO ROUGHLY THE
MO HWY 60 OR I-44 CORRIDOR BY AFTERNOON ON TUESDAY. WEAK
SHORTWAVE/RIPPLE IN THE SW FLOW WILL PULL NORTHEAST LATE TONIGHT
WITH THE BEST RAIN CHANCES SHIFTING NORTHEAST WITH IT AFTER 12Z.

FOR TUESDAY... WITH THE SHARP SFC BOUNDARY OVER THE REGION...WE MAY BE
IN A SIMILAR SCENARIO WE ARE IN RIGHT NOW. PROGGED SOUNDINGS SHOW
A RESTRENGTHENING MIXED LAYER/CAP DURING THE DAY WITH THE BEST
CHANCES FOR INITIATION IN THE CONVERGENCE ZONE NEAR THE FRONT WITH
PEAK HEATING LATE IN THE DAY. DIURNALLY DRIVEN INSTABILITY AND
CONTINUED MORE THAN ADEQUATE VERTICAL SHEAR COULD LEAD TO ISOLATED
SEVERE STORMS IF THEY CAN INITIATE. SYNOPTICALLY...A SHORTWAVE
RIDGE MOVES OVER THE REGION LATE IN THE DAY WHICH IS AN OVERALL
BACKGROUND NEGATIVE TO WIDESPREAD STORM COVERAGE.

.LONG TERM...(TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY)
ISSUED AT 245 PM CDT MON APR 15 2013

A SHARP/STRONG SLIGHTLY POSITIVELY TILTED 500MB LONGWAVE TROUGH
WILL SLOWLY SHIFT EAST FORM THE ROCKIES TO THE PLAINS WED-THU.
CONVECTION ALONG A COLD FRONT OVER KANSAS AND DRY LINE OVER
WESTERN OK AND TX SHOULD INTENSIFY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY
EVENING. THE OVERALL GUIDANCE TREND HAS BEEN TO SLOW THE OVERALL
SYSTEM DOWN WHICH MAKES SENSE. CONVECTION SHOULD BECOME WIDESPREAD
AHEAD OF THE FRONT WED NIGHT INTO THU. THE BEST CHANCES FOR SEVERE
WEATHER WOULD BE OVER THE WESTERN CWFA WED NIGHT WHILE WE STILL
HAVE AT LEAST MODERATE INSTABILITY AND 40-60KT 0-6KM BULK SHEAR
(STRONGEST OVER THE WESTERN CWFA). GUIDANCE WITH FRONTAL PASSAGE
TIMING STILL VARIES...BUT OVERALL IT LOOKS TO MOVE THROUGH THE
REGION THURSDAY WITH CONTINUED SEVERE WEATHER CHANCES STILL
POSSIBLE.

UNSEASONABLY COOL TEMPERATURES WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION BEHIND
THE FRONT WITH FROST/LIGHT FREEZE HEADLINES AGAIN POSSIBLE WITH
TEMPERATURES FALLING TO NEAR FREEZING FOR A COUPLE OF NIGHTS.

DSA

&&

.AVIATION...(FOR THE 00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY EVENING)
ISSUED AT 633 PM CDT MON APR 15 2013

FRONTAL BOUNDARY HAS DROPPED SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 44 ACROSS
SOUTHWEST MISSOURI SHIFTING WINDS BACK TO THE NNE. WHILE CAP TO
LIMIT CONVECTION THIS EVENING...THE COLUMN WILL SATURATE UNDER
THE LOW LEVEL COLD ADVECTION IN BEHIND THE FRONT LEADING TO
WIDESPREAD IFR STRATUS FROM LATE EVENING THROUGH MUCH OF TUESDAY.
ANY CONVECTION THAT DOES FORM OVERNIGHT WILL FURTHER IMPACT
VISIBILITIES THOUGH OMITTED THIS POTENTIAL DUE TO THE LACK OF
ANTICIPATED COVERAGE.

&&

.SGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MO...NONE.
KS...NONE.
&&

MESOSCALE...CRAMER
SHORT TERM...DSA
LONG TERM...DSA
AVIATION...RUNNELS
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 15, 9:42 PM CST, 16 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
1042 PM CDT MON APR 15 2013

KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-170345-
BOURBON-CRAWFORD-CHEROKEE-BENTON-MORGAN-MILLER-MARIES-VERNON-
ST. CLAIR-HICKORY-CAMDEN-PULASKI-PHELPS-BARTON-CEDAR-POLK-DALLAS-
LACLEDE-TEXAS-DENT-JASPER-DADE-GREENE-WEBSTER-WRIGHT-NEWTON-
LAWRENCE-CHRISTIAN-DOUGLAS-HOWELL-SHANNON-MCDONALD-BARRY-STONE-
TANEY-OZARK-OREGON-
1042 PM CDT MON APR 15 2013

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF THE MISSOURI
OZARKS AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

WEATHER HAZARDS EXPECTED...

  ELEVATED HAIL RISK.
  LIMITED THUNDERSTORM WIND DAMAGE RISK.
  LIMITED FLOODING RISK.
  SIGNIFICANT LIGHTNING RISK.

DISCUSSION...

  SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP
  ROUGHLY NORTHWEST OF THE INTERSTATE 44 CORRIDOR FOR THE
  REMAINDER OF TONIGHT. THERE IS AN ELEVATED RISK OF LARGE HAIL
  WITH THESE STORMS...WITH HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF HALF DOLLARS
  POSSIBLE. THE RISK FOR DAMAGING WIND IS LOW...HOWEVER AN
  ISOLATED...LOCALIZED DAMAGING WIND GUST CANNOT BE RULED OUT. IN
  ADDITION...SOME STORMS COULD TRAIN WITHIN A NARROW CORRIDOR...
  CAUSING A LIMITED RISK FOR HEAVY RAIN AND FLOODING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.

  THERE WILL BE A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS AT TIMES THROUGH
  THURSDAY AS THE COLD FRONT REMAINS STALLED ACROSS OUR REGION.
  THERE WILL BE A RISK FOR STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS ACROSS THE
  OUTLOOK AREA FROM TUESDAY THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY. THE GREATEST
  RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE FROM LATE WEDNESDAY INTO
  THURSDAY.

  THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINFALL AND LOCALIZED FLOODING WILL
  CONTINUE ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA TUESDAY. A HIGHER
  RISK OF EXCESSIVE RAINFALL AND FLOODING WILL DEVELOP WEDNESDAY
  AND THURSDAY.

  ANOTHER UNSEASONABLY COLD AIR MASS WILL SPREAD INTO THE REGION
  LATE THIS WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

  SPOTTER ACTIVATION FOR THE NEXT THREE TO SIX HOURS IS POSSIBLE
  FOR AREAS ALONG AND NORTHWEST OF THE INTERSTATE 44 CORRIDOR.

&&

THIS PRODUCT IS NOW AVAILABLE IN GRAPHICAL FORMAT...ALONG WITH
OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION...AT
HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/SGF(ALL LOWERCASE)

GAGAN

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 15, 9:26 PM CST, 32 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
1026 PM CDT MON APR 15 2013

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1000 PM     HAIL             HERMITAGE               37.94N 93.32W
04/15/2013  E1.00 INCH       HICKORY            MO   PUBLIC

            RELAYED VIA TELEVISION MEDIA

&&

GAGAN

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 117 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:58 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Crawford

When
April 15, 9:58 PM CST
Where
Crawford County, 0.88 mi NE of Frontenac
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
37.460, -94.690

Hail, Crawford

When
April 15, 10:37 PM CST
Where
Crawford County, 0.88 mi NE of Frontenac
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
37.460, -94.690

The public reported quarter size hail via Facebook.

Heavy Rain, Crawford

When
April 17, 6:33 AM CST to April 18, 6:33 AM CST
Where
Crawford County, 3.06 mi WSW of Hepler
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
37.650, -95.020

A twenty four hour rainfall total of 4 inches was reported.

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Heavy Rain
Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Kansas in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, April 2013

Sources

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: 438526, 438527, 438528.