During the afternoon hours, showers and thunderstorms began to develop along and east of an Atwood to Tribune line. Numerous thunderstorm outflows were generated from the resulting precipitation which then moved west, triggering additional thunderstorms.
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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 GLD wrote it up.
During the afternoon hours, showers and thunderstorms began to develop along and east of an Atwood to Tribune line. Numerous thunderstorm outflows were generated from the resulting precipitation which then moved west, triggering additional thunderstorms. A few of these thunderstorms interacted briefly with the previous storm's outflow, resulting in a couple brief tornadoes.
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 Apr 20, 1:55 PM CST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 155 PM MDT SUN APR 20 2014 .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH MONDAY) ISSUED AT 113 PM MDT SUN APR 20 2014 500MB LOW LOCATED NEAR THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE WILL SLOWLY MOVE EAST THROUGH TONIGHT. SCATTERED SHOWERS/ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THIS EVENING WITH BROAD SYNOPTIC SCALE LIFT ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER SYSTEM. SBCAPE OF UP TO 1000 J/KG WILL BE IN PLACE ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN FORECAST AREA WHERE CLEARING HAS OCCURRED. DEEP LAYER SHEAR WILL BE VERY LOW...ONLY AROUND 10KTS. AS A RESULT...SEVERE THREAT WILL BE MINIMAL. THE NON-SUPERCELL TORNADO COMPOSITE INDEX FROM SPC DOES SHOW SOME NONZERO VALUES ACROSS SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE FORECAST AREA...BUT THREAT WILL LIKELY BE GREATEST FURTHER SOUTH NEAR THE UPPER CIRCULATION CENTER BUT CANNOT COMPLETELY RULE OUT A BRIEF LANDSPOUT THIS AFTERNOON. SURFACE COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP THROUGH DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS WITH WINDS SHIFTING TO NORTH AND INCREASING TO 15-20MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 30MPH BEGINNING AROUND SUNRISE MONDAY MORNING AND CONTINUING THROUGH LATE MORNING BEFORE DIMINISHING DURING THE AFTERNOON. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL TOP OUT AROUND 70 WITH MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES. .LONG TERM...(TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY) ISSUED AT 153 PM MDT SUN APR 20 2014 TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY NIGHT...CONFIDENCE INCREASING IN POTENTIAL FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT OVER PLAINS...THOUGH THERE IS STILL UNCERTAINTY ON COVERAGE AND LOCATION OF INITIATION. THERE IS ALSO THE POTENTIAL FOR NEAR ADVISORY/ADVISORY CRITERIA WINDS BOTH DAYS. MODELS HAVE COME IN A LITTLE LIGHTER ON SURFACE-H85 LAYER WINDS ON TUESDAY...AND HAVE ACTUALLY TRENDED QUICKER WITH COLD FRONT/SURFACE TROUGH WEDNESDAY. THIS LOWERS CONFIDENCE IN HIGHER WIND SPEEDS...ESPECIALLY WED. WILL NEED TO MONITOR...HOWEVER MENTION OF WINDY CONDITIONS KEPT IN FORECAST. REGARDING THUNDERSTORMS...DRY LINE SHOULD STILL BE THE FOCUS FOR TUESDAY WITH ISOLATED CONVECTION POSSIBLY INCREASING IN COVERAGE OVERNIGHT TUESDAY AS LLJ AND THETA-E ADVECTION INCREASES AHEAD OF DEEPENING UPPER LOW. THIS WILL ALSO HELP ADVECT HIGHER TD VALUES INTO THE WEST...AND AS SURFACE LOW DEEPENS BY WED MORNING WE SHOULD SE A WE DEFINED DRY LINE DEVELOP OVER OUR CWA...POSSIBLY BACKING TO THE WEST IF SURFACE LOW ENDS UP BEING STRONGER. SEVERE WEATHER PARAMETERS AND MODEL SOUNDINGS CONTINUE TO FAVOR WIND/HAIL FOR THREATS TUESDAY AFTERNOON/NIGHT WITH BEST CHANCE FOR ORGANIZED SUPERCELLS OVER OUR EASTERN CWA WEDNESDAY WHERE NAM/GFS BOTH SHOW DECENT SHEER/INSTABILITY. POSITION OF DRY LINE BOTH DAYS WILL BE CRITICAL AND TIMING OF COLD FRONT WED IS ALSO A COMPLICATION. I WENT AHEAD AND RAISE POPS WED AFTERNOON IN THE EAST...OTHERWISE DIDNT MAKE MAJOR CHANGES. THURSDAY-SUNDAY...SHORTWAVE RIDGING SHOULD HELP LIMIT PRECIP CHANCES THU/FRI WITH MODELS CURRENTLY ADVERTISING SEASONAL TEMPS. BY NEXT WEEKEND THERE IS INCREASING RUN-RUN SPREAD HOWEVER LATEST ECMWF/GFS ARE CURRENTLY INDICATING ANOTHER UPPER TROUGH DEVELOPING OVER THE WESTERN US MOVING INTO THE PLAINS...WHICH COULD BRINGING THUNDERSTORM CHANCES (AND SEVERE POSSIBILITY) BACK TO OUR CWA. I KEPT SLIGHT CHANCE/CHANCE MENTION IN PLACE. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z MONDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 1114 AM MDT SUN APR 20 2014 VFR EXPECTED TO BE THE PREDOMINANT FLIGHT CATEGORY AT BOTH KGLD AND KMCK. SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. A FEW ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ALSO POSSIBLE BUT INSTABILITY IS VERY LIMITED. DUE TO LIMITED AREAL COVERAGE NOT ENOUGH CONFIDENCE TO GO MORE THAN VCSH FOR THE PRECIPITATION AT EITHER LOCATION. SHOWERS WILL DIMINISH EARLY THIS EVENING AS THE UPPER SHORTWAVE MOVES EAST. A COLD FRONT WILL SHIFT WINDS AROUND TO THE NORTH AROUND SUNRISE MONDAY MORNING WITH GUSTY WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT THROUGH AT LEAST MID DAY MONDAY. && .FIRE WEATHER... ISSUED AT 153 PM MDT SUN APR 20 2014 DEPENDING ON TIMING OF DRY LINE IT STILL LOOKS LIKE WE COULD SE A BRIEF PERIOD OF RH/WIND WITHIN RFW CRITERIA TUESDAY AFTERNOON...HOWEVER THIS IS NOT EXPECTED TO REACH 3HR REQUIREMENT. BETTER CHANCES FOR RFW CONDITIONS ARE ON WED AND THURSDAY...THOUGH CONFIDENCE IS ESPECIALLY LOW ON SURFACE PATTERN/DRY LINE POSITION ON WEDNESDAY. WILL NEED TO FINE TUNE THINGS AS WE GET CLOSER...BUT WHILE IT SEEMS LIKELY WE WILL ULTIMATELY NEED A FIRE WEATHER HIGHLIGHT FOR PART OF OUR CWA WED/THU...CONFIDENCE IS TOO LOW RIGHT NOW. && .GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KS...NONE. CO...NONE. NE...NONE. && SHORT TERM...024 LONG TERM...DR AVIATION...024 FIRE WEATHER...DR
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 242 PM MDT SUN APR 20 2014 COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-211700- YUMA-KIT CARSON-CHEYENNE CO-CHEYENNE KS-RAWLINS-DECATUR-NORTON- SHERMAN-THOMAS-SHERIDAN-GRAHAM-WALLACE-LOGAN-GOVE-GREELEY-WICHITA- DUNDY-HITCHCOCK-RED WILLOW- 242 PM MDT SUN APR 20 2014 /342 PM CDT SUN APR 20 2014/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...NORTHWEST KANSAS AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT AN ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL IS POSSIBLE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY ON TUESDAY...SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH POSSIBLE. DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS ON TUESDAY...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG THE COLORADO BORDER AND MOVE EAST ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA. AT THIS TIME IT WILL BE POSSIBLE THAT A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS THE MAIN THREAT. ON WEDNESDAY...SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH POSSIBLE. THESE STRONG WINDS COMBINED WITH LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL CAUSE NEAR CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ALONG AND WEST OF THE COLORADO BORDER. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED DURING THE AFTERNOON AND NIGHT. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE. ON THURSDAY...STRONG AND GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS COMBINED WITH LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL CREATE NEAR CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT.
The Goodland radar (KGLD), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:10 UTC.
2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Brief landspout tornado was observed east of Colby, remaining over open fields and producing no known damage.
A brief landspout tornado was observed from Highway 36 near Beardsley looking south. Position estimated from outflow boundary location and developing cells on Doppler radar.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Kansas, 2014Warnings in Kansas, April 2014
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: 510345, 510347.