Hail, Kearny
- When
- July 1, 5:27 PM CST
- Where
- Kearny County, 10.05 mi NNW of Lake Mc Kinney
- Measured
- 1.5 in hail
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 38.120, -101.250
Tornado and Hail in Kansas, July 1, 2020
An upper level trough pushed across the CWA producing a tornado and hail over the size of quarters. A leeside trough over eastern Colorado helped to initiate storms near the state line before pushing across into far western counties coupled with the strong daytime heating allowing for stronger CAPE values under weaker shear environment.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $200,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 6
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.
An upper level trough pushed across the CWA producing a tornado and hail over the size of quarters. A leeside trough over eastern Colorado helped to initiate storms near the state line before pushing across into far western counties coupled with the strong daytime heating allowing for stronger CAPE values under weaker shear environment.
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 Jul 1, 2:22 PM CST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 1, 2:22 PM CST, 3 hours 5 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Dodge City KS 322 PM CDT Wed Jul 1 2020 ...Updated short and long term sections... .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Thursday) Issued at 321 PM CDT Wed Jul 1 2020 Winds will shift to an easterly direction tonight and become light. A deck of stratus is expected to form after midnight and continue into the mid morning hours. Depending on how fast this stratus erodes will be the determining factor or how warm we will reach tomorrow. Winds shift to the southeast tomorrow as lee troughing develops across eastern Colorado. A few thunderstorms are anticipated to form along our southern zones late tomorrow afternoon. If this comes to fruition, the strongest storms will be capable of producing large hail and damaging winds. As for temperatures, lows tonight are progged to range from the low 60s across west central Kansas to low 70s across south central Kansas. Highs tomorrow may reach into the upper 90s to around 100 degrees. .LONG TERM...(Thursday night through Wednesday) Issued at 321 PM CDT Wed Jul 1 2020 A few weak disturbances will move through the area late week into this weekend and trigger a few storms to form during peak heating. Any storms that do form should dissipate as they trek eastward overnight. Otherwise expect hot conditions to continue. Winds through the long term look to generally be form the south to southeast. As for temperatures, highs look to reach into the 90s with lows in the 60s. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Thursday afternoon) Issued at 1232 PM CDT Wed Jul 1 2020 VFR conditions will prevail today with skies becoming mostly clear. Another deck of stratus is expected to form again tomorrow morning with ceilings AOA010. This stratus should burn off by late morning. Winds will generally be from the north this afternoon shifting to more of a easterly direction overnight. Winds then shift to the southeast tomorrow. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DDC 71 98 67 95 / 10 30 30 20 GCK 68 99 65 96 / 10 30 20 20 EHA 67 100 66 96 / 0 20 10 20 LBL 69 99 66 97 / 0 20 20 20 HYS 71 95 68 93 / 10 20 40 20 P28 74 101 70 96 / 10 30 40 20 && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SHORT TERM...Hovorka_42 LONG TERM...Hovorka_42 AVIATION...Hovorka_42
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 1, 2:17 AM CST, 15 hours 10 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Dodge City KS 317 AM CDT Wed Jul 1 2020 KSZ030-031-043>046-061>066-074>081-084>090-020830- Trego-Ellis-Scott-Lane-Ness-Rush-Hamilton-Kearny-Finney-Hodgeman- Pawnee-Stafford-Stanton-Grant-Haskell-Gray-Ford-Edwards-Kiowa- Pratt-Morton-Stevens-Seward-Meade-Clark-Comanche-Barber- 317 AM CDT Wed Jul 1 2020 /217 AM MDT Wed Jul 1 2020/ This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...south central...southwest and west central Kansas. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. Days 2-7 Discussion ------------------- There will be a chance for thunderstorms across some portion of southwest and/or north central Kansas almost each evening from late Thursday through Monday. At this time the potential for severe weather is not high but a few isolated storms over the weekend may be capable of producing isolated wind gusts of 50 mph and small hail. Days 2-7 Hazards ---------------- * Thursday - Lightning: Limited risk - Excessive heat: Elevated risk - Fire weather: Elevated risk * Friday - Lightning: Limited risk - Excessive heat: Limited risk * Saturday - Lightning: Limited risk - Excessive heat: Limited risk * Sunday - Lightning: Limited risk - Excessive heat: Limited risk * Monday - Lightning: Limited risk - Excessive heat: Limited risk * Tuesday - Excessive heat: Limited risk .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed through tonight. && For more details visit our webpage https://weather.gov/crh/ghwo?sid=ddc
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 5:05 PM CST, 22 minutes before
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Dodge City KS 605 PM CDT Wed Jul 1 2020 KSZ075-076-020000- Grant KS-Haskell KS- 605 PM CDT Wed Jul 1 2020 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHEASTERN GRANT AND NORTHWESTERN HASKELL COUNTIES UNTIL 700 PM CDT... At 604 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near Hickok, moving east at 15 mph. Penny size hail will be possible with this storm. Locations impacted include... Hickok and Ryus. LAT...LON 3751 10130 3773 10133 3773 10102 3749 10098 TIME...MOT...LOC 2304Z 268DEG 17KT 3761 10120 FINCH
The radar
The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 119 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:25 UTC.
Event by event
5 hail, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Haskell
- When
- July 1, 6:13 PM CST
- Where
- Haskell County, 0.88 mi SW of Satanta Muni Arpt
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Reported by
- Social Media
- Coordinates
- 37.440, -100.990
Hail, Grant
- When
- July 1, 6:28 PM CST
- Where
- Grant County, 6.22 mi S of Ryus
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 37.390, -101.100
Tornado, Seward
- When
- July 1, 6:33 PM CST to 6:52 PM CST
- Where
- Seward County, 16.07 mi WNW of Kismet to 10.3 mi NW of Kismet
- Rating
- EF1
- Path length
- 6.2 mi
- Path width
- 100 yd
- Property damage
- $200,000
- Reported by
- Emergency Manager
- Coordinates
- 37.324, -100.948
A detailed storm survey was done on this tall and very visible tornado. Pivot irrigation sprinklers, power poles and crops were impacted.
Hail, Kearny
- When
- July 1, 6:41 PM CST
- Where
- Kearny County, 14.78 mi W of Lakin
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 37.930, -101.520
Hail, Kearny
- When
- July 1, 7:24 PM CST
- Where
- Kearny County, 16.28 mi SW of Lakin
- Measured
- 1.5 in hail
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 37.810, -101.490
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Georgia, July 1 to 3, 2020
- Heat in Oklahoma, July 1 to 3, 2020
- Rip Current in California, July 1, 2020
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Tennessee, July 1, 2020
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in North Dakota, July 1 to 3, 2020
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Mississippi, July 1, 2020
- Flood and Hail in New Jersey, July 1, 2020
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Virginia, July 1, 2020
- Damaging Wind in Minnesota, July 1, 2020
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, July 1, 2020
- Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 1, 2020
- Drought in New Mexico, July 1 to 31, 2020
More
Every storm in Kansas in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Kansas, 2020Warnings in Kansas, July 2020
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: 913881, 913882, 913883, 913886, 913884, 913885.