A line of severe thunderstorms moved east across Cheyenne, Kit Carson, and Yuma counties. The line of storms produced thunderstorm wind gusts up to 75 mph, up to half inch hail, and heavy rain.
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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.
A line of severe thunderstorms moved east across Cheyenne, Kit Carson, and Yuma counties. The line of storms produced thunderstorm wind gusts up to 75 mph, up to half inch hail, and heavy rain.
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 May 24, 4:31 PM MST, 49 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Goodland KS 531 PM MDT Sun May 24 2020 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Wednesday) Issued at 155 PM MDT Sun May 24 2020 Visible satellite and surface obs reveal a complex scenario across western and especially southwestern Kansas. Front has settled along a Hays to Liberal line, with agitated cu ahead and along it. There is also an outflow boundary racing westward and approaching Hays, which may nudge the front into Gove/Sheridan/Graham counties in the next few hours. If that happens, then cannot rule out those areas getting on the warm/very unstable side of the front where deep layer shear supports possible supercells between 21z and 00z before moving east. Elsewhere, will be looking westward to Colorado where large complex of thunderstorms will develop in the post frontal upslope regime and move across the area this evening. These storms have the potential of producing a large swath of 60-80 mph wind gusts this evening, as well as locally heavy rainfall. Overnight, precipitation will shift eastward where locally heavy rainfall will continue to be a risk. Low temperatures will range from the lower 40s to lower 50s. Monday will be cloudy and cool with scattered showers through the day, most numerous in the morning. No severe storms are expected due to lack of instability and additional rainfall amounts will be light. High temperatures will generally be in the lower 60s, perhaps a few degrees cooler. Low temperatures Monday night will range from the upper 30s in northeast Colorado to middle 40s in west central Kansas. Cannot rule out patchy frost in lower lying areas of northeast Colorado. Tuesday and Wednesday will be dry with the remnant upper low over the southern plains and shortwave ridging from the desert southwest to central Rockies. Temperatures will be in the middle 70s on Tuesday and lower 80s on Wednesday with light winds. Low temperatures will be in the 40s and 50s. .LONG TERM...(Thursday through Sunday) Issued at 236 PM MDT Sun May 24 2020 Upper level ridging sits over the western U.S. Thursday as a closed low shifts eastward over the Arklatex area with a trough north of the Great Lakes. The ridge pushes over the central U.S. by Saturday night forcing the trough east. The cutoff low retrogrades within the ridge to over the Texas/Mexico border by Sunday night. A closed low makes its way from the central California coast into the Pacific Northwest leading to an upper level disturbance within the ridge during the extended forecast period. Surface high pressure sits over most of the Plains Thursday with low pressure extending from the Great Lakes southwestward into the Arklatex region. Low pressure begins to infringe on the high pressure in the northwest Plains by Sunday. The extended forecast period will be dry with high temperatures in the mid-70s to upper 80s and lows in the 50s. Skies will be sunny to partly cloudy. There could be elevated fire weather concerns next Sunday but RH values are not below 20% yet and wind gusts do not yet reach 25 mph in the forecast. Winds may increase due to the surface pressure gradient as low pressure moves into the Plains and high pressure extends into the central Plains from the east. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Monday evening) Issued at 512 PM MDT Sun May 24 2020 GLD will transition from VFR to MVFR as rain showers move in and ceilings lower. MVFR conditions will continue through the night into Monday morning with showers diminishing after 11Z. Conditions will return to VFR after 18Z. MCK will transition from VFR to MVFR after 05Z as rain showers move in. Rain showers will diminish after 11Z with conditions returning to VFR. && .GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KS...NONE. CO...NONE. NE...NONE. && SHORT TERM...024 LONG TERM...NEWMAN AVIATION...LOCKHART
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Goodland KS 251 AM MDT Sun May 24 2020 COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-250900- Yuma County-Kit Carson County-Cheyenne County-Cheyenne-Rawlins- Decatur-Norton-Sherman-Thomas-Sheridan-Graham-Wallace-Logan-Gove- Greeley-Wichita-Dundy-Hitchcock-Red Willow- 251 AM MDT Sun May 24 2020 /351 AM CDT Sun May 24 2020/ This hazardous weather outlook is for extreme southwest Nebraska... northwest Kansas and east central Colorado. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... A few strong to severe thunderstorms will be possible this afternoon and evening, generally along and south of a line from Cheyenne Wells to Oakley to Hill City. Large hail, damaging winds, and locally heavy rainfall will be the main threats. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be required this afternoon and evening.
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Goodland KS 535 PM CDT Sun May 24 2020 KSZ016-242300- Graham KS- 535 PM CDT Sun May 24 2020 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR EASTERN GRAHAM COUNTY UNTIL 600 PM CDT... At 535 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 5 miles southwest of Palco, or 15 miles southeast of Hill City, moving north at 20 mph. Pea size hail and wind gusts up to 50 mph will be possible with this storm. Locations impacted include... Bogue and Nicodemus. LAT...LON 3913 9983 3957 9965 3957 9960 3913 9961 TIME...MOT...LOC 2235Z 199DEG 16KT 3921 9964 024
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Goodland KS 601 PM CDT Sun May 24 2020 KSZ016-242315- Graham KS- 601 PM CDT Sun May 24 2020 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHEASTERN GRAHAM COUNTY UNTIL 615 PM CDT... At 601 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 8 miles southwest of Palco, or 12 miles north of Ogallah, moving north at 25 mph. Pea size hail and wind gusts up to 50 mph will be possible with this storm. Locations impacted include... Bogue. LAT...LON 3913 9977 3939 9968 3936 9960 3913 9961 TIME...MOT...LOC 2301Z 198DEG 22KT 3916 9966 024
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Goodland KS
612 PM MDT Sun May 24 2020
COZ091-092-250045-
Kit Carson County CO-Cheyenne County CO-
612 PM MDT Sun May 24 2020
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR WESTERN CHEYENNE AND SOUTHWESTERN
KIT CARSON COUNTIES IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO UNTIL 645 PM MDT...
At 611 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms along
a line extending from 10 miles east of Hugo to 11 miles southeast of
Boyero to 11 miles northwest of Haswell. Movement was east at 25 mph.
Half inch hail, wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph, and locally heavy
rainfall will be possible with these storms. Hail may accumulate on
roadways.
Locations impacted include...
Kit Carson, Wild Horse and Aroya.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Torrential rainfall is also occurring with these storms, and may lead
to localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.
&&
LAT...LON 3869 10317 3869 10316 3913 10316 3920 10315
3919 10290 3871 10276 3861 10280 3861 10317
TIME...MOT...LOC 0011Z 282DEG 22KT 3913 10327 3879 10317 3860 10324
AWThe Goodland radar (KGLD), 54 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:19 UTC.
5 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm wind gust of 74 MPH via a Davis Instrument. At the location, branches of unknown size were broken off trees and fascia was torn off a house.
An estimated 75 mph wind gust was reported at the location with up to half inch hail covering more than half of the ground.
A mesonet station approximately 2 SW of Firstview recorded a 59 mph wind gust. No damage was observed with this event.
Mesonet station UP723 located approximately 4 miles east of Firstview measured a thunderstorm wind gust of 61 mph. Time estimated by radar.
The ASOS station located at the Kit Carson County Airport recorded a measured thunderstorm wind gust of 59 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, May 2020
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: 892015, 892139, 892140, 892145, 892323.