Repeated heavy rain from strong thunderstorms in Logan County on September 9th led to flooding along and near the Smoky Hill River on September 10th. Some county roads were impassable and closed for a brief period of time due to water flowing over the roadways.
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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.
Repeated heavy rain from strong thunderstorms in Logan County on September 9th led to flooding along and near the Smoky Hill River on September 10th. Some county roads were impassable and closed for a brief period of time due to water flowing over the roadways. No lasting flooding damage was reported.
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 Sep 10, 5:42 AM CST, 2 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Goodland KS 542 AM MDT Tue Sep 10 2019 .SHORT TERM...(Today through Wednesday night) Issued at 209 AM MDT Tue Sep 10 2019 Latest upper air analysis shows southwest flow over the west half of the CONUS. At the surface a weak warm front/surface trough was progressing northward over Northwest Kansas. This surface feature had served as a focus for storm activity yesterday. By sunrise the boundary will be north of the forecast area. Behind the boundary dry air will be moving into the forecast area, so am not anticipating any fog development this morning. Today a dry line will move over the western half of the forecast area from the south as the surface low moves north over Colorado. During the afternoon a narrow corridor of isentropic lift will develop near the dry line. There is currently disagreement as to where the isentropic lift will develop, either over the central part of the forecast area or south of the forecast area extending up toward Tribune. By mid afternoon the mixed layer cinh should be low enough for an isolated storm to form. Confidence is slightly higher that storms will form more south of the forecast area then potentially develop further north toward Tribune during the latter half of the afternoon. However to account for the potential of storms developing over the central part of the forecast area near the dry line, decided to extend the chance for isolated storms north further. These storms will likely last into the early evening before ending by mid evening as the isentropic lift ends. Am thinking the intensity of these storms should be strong to potentially low end severe. The deep layer shear for day is similar to yesterday when hail up to half dollar size was reported with the strongest storms. Wednesday will be dry during the afternoon. A cold front will approach the forecast area from the northwest. Due to the tight surface pressure gradient and some of the winds from the low level jet overhead mixing down, south winds will be breezy. After midnight the cold front will move through the forecast area from the northwest. Along and ahead of the cold front an upper level short wave trough will also pass over the forecast area. This should lead to a rather widespread area of rainfall moving east across the forecast area ahead of the front. Deep layer shear increases during the night, supportive of super cells, and mixed layer cinh almost disappears during the evening. Mixed layer CAPE will be more than enough to support severe thunderstorms, however the 700-500mb lapse rates will be 6-7C/km, not very supportive of large hail development. The best timeframe for severe weather will be before the cold front moves through (after midnight). During the evening thunderstorms will transition from surface to elevated ahead of the cold front. Any severe weather should diminish in coverage during the latter half of the evening as the elevated CAPE declines. Main threats will be hail up to quarter size and wind gusts of 60-70 MPH (the threat for wind gusts will decrease through the evening). Due to the low level helicity present in the evening, there may be a threat for tornadoes prior to the front moving through. Storm activity should end behind the cold front. The cold front will be through the forecast area by sunrise on Thursday. .LONG TERM...(Thursday through Monday) Issued at 200 AM MDT Tue Sep 10 2019 Thursday will be breezy and cooler behind an early frontal passage. Expecting high temperatures in the upper 70s. Thursday night, will get into the return flow around the surface high. There is some weak isentropic lift on 310K after midnight south of Interstate 70. ECMWF also showing light QPF in the same area. For these reasons inclined to leave slight POPs in place for the 06z to 12z time period. Isentropic lift ends by 12z Friday morning, with a dry westerly flow forecast through the rest of Friday. Temperatures will once again reach the upper 70s. A weak disturbance in the zonal flow will come out of the central Rockies Friday night. Only the GFS showing some light QPF at this time, rest of the models are dry so will not have any POPs for now. Weekend will warm up as southern ridge begins to amplify and nudge into the central plains. The ridge will also result in dry conditions. Temperatures will warm into the mid to upper 80s both Saturday and Sunday. Upper pattern amplifies early next week with the ridge extending into southern Canada as a sharp trough traverses the Great Basin out west. Appears the ridge will still be close enough and be the dominant factor locally. Above normal temperatures and dry conditions should be the end result. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Wednesday morning) Issued at 538 AM MDT Tue Sep 10 2019 VFR conditions forecast for the TAFs. Main impact will be the breezy winds this afternoon and into the night. Otherwise, in the nearterm KMCK has visibility just above MVFR. Latest data indicates the site is on the southern edge of the lower visibility, with visibility improving over the next hour. && .GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KS...NONE. CO...NONE. NE...NONE. && SHORT TERM...JTL LONG TERM...024 AVIATION...JTL
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Goodland KS 220 AM MDT Tue Sep 10 2019 COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-110830- Yuma County-Kit Carson County-Cheyenne County-Cheyenne-Rawlins- Decatur-Norton-Sherman-Thomas-Sheridan-Graham-Wallace-Logan-Gove- Greeley-Wichita-Dundy-Hitchcock-Red Willow- 220 AM MDT Tue Sep 10 2019 /320 AM CDT Tue Sep 10 2019/ This hazardous weather outlook is for extreme southwest Nebraska... northwest Kansas and east central Colorado. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... Flooding may still be ongoing in low lying areas of Logan and western Gove counties this morning. The flood waters should recede by late morning if not sooner. From 2 PM to 10 PM MDT there will be a risk for strong thunderstorms between Highway 25 and the Kansas Colorado border. Hail up to nickel size will be the main threats. If a severe thunderstorm does develop, hail up to half dollar size is possible. Confidence of large hail occurring is low. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY... Wednesday evening hail up to quarter size and wind gusts of 60-70 MPH may occur with the strongest storms. A tornado may also form with any storms that develop. The threat for severe weather will end by midnight as a cold front begins to move through from the north. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated at this time. JTL
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
606 AM MDT TUE SEP 10 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0535 PM HAIL 4 SSW WINONA 39.00N 101.27W
09/09/2019 E0.75 INCH LOGAN KS COCORAHS
LASTED 15 MINUTES.
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
756 AM MDT TUE SEP 10 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0655 AM HEAVY RAIN 4 SSW OAKLEY 39.07N 100.87W
09/10/2019 M1.10 INCH LOGAN KS PUBLIC
TOTAL RAINFALL OVER PREVIOUS 12 HOURS.
RELAYED VIA EM.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Logan County emergency management reported flooding with water running over County Road 270 just SSE of Russell Springs, KS at the crossing with the Smoky Hill River. Report included photos of running water over the roadway. No damage was reported.
An employee from NWS Goodland took photos and videos of flooding in this area on the Smoky Hill River on the morning of September 10th in addition to receiving multiple reports and pictures from emergency management and the public of flooding in this area.
The USGS river gauge at the intersection of the Smoky Hill River and US Hwy 83 in southwest Logan County reported a brief period of above flood stage levels. An employee from NWS Goodland took photos and videos of this area on the morning of September 10th in addition to receiving multiple reports and pictures from emergency management and the public of flooding in this area.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, September 2019
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: 869479, 869480, 869478.