Flash Flood and Flood in Kansas, October 4 to 9, 2018

Name: Flash Flood and Flood in Kansas, October 4 to 9, 2018
Start: 2018-10-04T23:00
End: 2018-10-09T22:00
Location: Kansas

October 4 to 9, 2018 · NWS DDC · 16 events in 10 counties and zones

Several days of continued set the stage for near saturated ground. An upper level disturbance and attendant warm front contributed to additional storms with heavy rainfall and continued flooding issues.

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: $2.5 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 16

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 DDC wrote it up.

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 Dodge City, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 4, 6:10 PM CST, 4 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 4, 6:10 PM CST, 4 hours 50 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 4, 2:32 AM CST, 20 hours 28 minutes before

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The radar

The Vance AFB radar (KVNX), 45 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:56 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

14 heavy rain, 1 flood, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Barber

When: October 4, 11:00 PM CST to October 8, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Barber County, Kiowa Arpt
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 37.020, -98.500

Rainfall for the period was 4.10 inches.

Heavy Rain, Ford

When: October 5, 10:00 PM CST to October 8, 3:00 PM CST
Where: Ford County, (Ddc)dodge City Arpt
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 37.770, -99.970

Total rainfall for the period was 4.74 inches.

Heavy Rain, Ford

When: October 5, 10:00 PM CST to October 8, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Ford County, 6.03 mi SW of Wilroads Gardens
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 37.660, -100.010

Rainfall for the period was 4.0 inches.

Heavy Rain, Seward

When: October 5, 10:00 PM CST to October 8, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Seward County, 3.86 mi W of Hayne
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 37.100, -100.870

Rainfall for the period was 3.20 inches.

Heavy Rain, Gray

When: October 5, 10:00 PM CST to October 8, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Gray County, 10.36 mi N of Copeland
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 37.680, -100.630

Rainfall for the period was 5.60 inches.

Heavy Rain, Comanche

When: October 5, 11:00 PM CST to October 8, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Comanche County, 16.52 mi ESE of Buttermilk
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 37.040, -99.040

Rainfall for the period was 6.92 inches.

Heavy Rain, Pawnee

When: October 5, 11:00 PM CST to October 8, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Pawnee County, Larned
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 38.180, -99.100

Rainfall for the period was 4.0 inches.

Heavy Rain, Rush

When: October 5, 11:00 PM CST to October 8, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Rush County, 0.54 mi E of La Crosse Hoover Arp
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 38.530, -99.310

Rainfall for the period was 5.50 inches.

Heavy Rain, Rush

When: October 5, 11:00 PM CST to October 8, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Rush County, 1.38 mi S of Liebenthal
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 38.630, -99.320

Rainfall for the period was 6.0 inches.

Heavy Rain, Stevens

When: October 5, 11:00 PM CST to October 8, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Stevens County, 0.55 mi W of Moscow
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 37.330, -101.210

Rainfall for the period was 3.0 inches.

Heavy Rain, Ford

When: October 5, 11:00 PM CST to October 8, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Ford County, 4.15 mi N of Spearville
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 37.910, -99.750

Rainfall for the period was 6.10 inches.

Heavy Rain, Meade

When: October 5, 11:00 PM CST to October 8, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Meade County, 2.82 mi N of Plains
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 37.310, -100.590

Rainfall for the period was 3.75 inches.

Heavy Rain, Barber

When: October 5, 11:00 PM CST to October 8, 6:15 PM CST
Where: Barber County, 2.76 mi N of Hardtner
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 37.060, -98.650

Rainfall for the period was 5.30 inches.

Heavy Rain, Barber

When: October 8, 4:00 AM CST to 3:56 PM CST
Where: Barber County, 0.69 mi N of (P28)medicine Lodge
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 37.280, -98.550

Rainfall during the period was 3.39 inches.

Flood, Pratt

When: October 8, 11:00 PM CST to October 9, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Pratt County, 1.77 mi WSW of Pratt to 2.54 mi E of Pratt
Cause: Dam / Levee Break
Property damage: $2.5 million
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 37.640, -98.760

Heavy rainfall and runoff caused extensive flooding along the Ninnescah river flooding the city park, Memorial lake and the Kansas Department of Wildlife offices and rearing ponds. At the lake, several vehicles, tents and campers were inundated by flood waters. At the fish hatchery at the KDWP offices, many of the ponds were breached washing fingerling fish and brood fish out into the swollen river.

Flash Flood, Barber

When: October 9, 11:35 AM CST to 4:35 PM CST
Where: Barber County, 0.33 mi E of Medicine Lodge to 0.28 mi ESE of Medicine Lodge
Cause: Heavy Rain
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 37.280, -98.574

Several roads, including the city park, were under water from flooding.

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Kansas in 2018 Every state in 2018 This day in weather history Warnings in Kansas, October 2018

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 789538, 789536, 789540, 789544, 789549, 789539, 789541, 789542, 789543, 789545, 789547, 789550, 789551, 789537, 789558, 789552.