Supercell thunderstorms formed over the Colorado High Plains increasing in coverage to form a line and intensified as they moved east into Kansas and Nebraska. 5 inches of rain.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
Supercell thunderstorms formed over the Colorado High Plains increasing in coverage to form a line and intensified as they moved east into Kansas and Nebraska. In Kansas, the storms produced up to ping pong ball sized hail, up to 93 mph wind gusts, and up to 1.5 inches of rain. During the event, several power poles were reported down in Cheyenne, Logan, Thomas, and Graham counties. Five oil tank batteries in Graham County and a central pivot irrigation system in Thomas County were also damaged.
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 Jul 2, 2:17 PM MST, 1 hour 17 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Goodland KS 317 PM MDT Thu Jul 2 2020 .SHORT TERM...(This afternoon through Friday) Issued at 1133 AM MDT Thu Jul 2 2020 Latest upper air analysis and satellite imagery show southwest flow over the Great Basin onto the High Plains with cloud cover continuing to fade. A short wave trough was deepening over Eastern Colorado. At the surface a dry line/surface boundary was located just west of the KS/CO border. To the east an outflow boundary from convection to the east was moving westward. This afternoon am expecting thunderstorms to initiate near Akron and Yuma by 2 PM MT. Based on the explosive growth with storms yesterday, am expecting the same to occur today. As storms move east they should increase in coverage and intensity. Based on the 0-6 KM shear, 0-3 KM helicity, and ML CAPE am thinking these storms may become super cells despite the rather weak shear. The greatest risk for hail will be when storms initially develop. Once the storms begin to group together the hail threat will go down and the risk for straight-line winds will go up. Currently am thinking the greatest risk for straight-line winds will be along Highway 36 corridor. Tonight the storm activity will continue to move east. Am not sure how late into the evening the potential for damaging straight- lines winds will last. However, based on what happened over the past week in a similar setup, am thinking the risk may persist to after midnight; although by late evening the threat will will be more isolated that earlier in the evening. Confidence of severe thunderstorms occurring and producing these threats are between moderate and high. Impacts will be broken tree limbs, downed power poles, limited visibility in the torrential rainfall/blowing dust. However, confidence of these threats occurring east of Highway 83 declines. The one factor that is tricky to determine is when the storms will reach the eastern 1/3 of the forecast area. If they race east after clustering together, they may reach the eastern part of the forecast area early enough in the evening to still produce damaging winds over a more than just isolated locations. Friday a similar setup will exist for severe thunderstorms to occur. However the ML CAPE will be pushed further east, with the dry line between Highways 27 and 83, except for an arc of higher dewpoints over Yuma County. Deep layer shear over Yuma County is 15 kts, so may see some strong thunderstorms until the storm activity moves over the east half of the forecast area. Currently this shouldn't occur until the evening, which will limit the amount of instability present. .LONG TERM...(Friday night through Thursday) Issued at 315 PM MDT Thu Jul 2 2020 An upper-level ridge axis is expected to remain over Central High Plains in the extended forecast. An upper-lvel trough is across the Pacific NW. A 500mb low develops across region on Sunday as ridge flattens. Ridge builds back into the High Plains next week with a few shortwave troughs moving across the Central Region High Plains. At the surface a boundary is across the CWA on Saturday. A trough is expected to be across eastern Colorado/northwest KS region through the period. Expecting temperatures to be in the low to mid 90s on Saturday. Temperatures will be slightly cooler on Sunday expecting to be in the mid 80s to low 90s. Temperatures will increase above normal later in the period to upper 90s near 100 by Wednesday. Expecting a chance of preciptation Saturday with increase chances on Sunday as H5 low moves across region. Expect chances of precipitation to decrease by Tuesday into Wednesday. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Friday afternoon) Issued at 1133 AM MDT Thu Jul 2 2020 VFR to MVFR conditions forecast for the TAFs. Main focus is the timing of thunderstorms over both sites. As thunderstorms move over KGLD, anticipate the visibility falling to atleast MVFR, maybe even IFR for a short time. Winds will also be gusty with these storms. There could also be some blowing dust. On a side note, arrival time may not be soon enough if the storms produce outflow winds and race eastward. && .GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KS...NONE. CO...NONE. NE...NONE. && SHORT TERM...JTL LONG TERM...EH AVIATION...JTL
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Goodland KS 935 AM MDT Thu Jul 2 2020 COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-031545- Yuma County-Kit Carson County-Cheyenne County-Cheyenne-Rawlins- Decatur-Norton-Sherman-Thomas-Sheridan-Graham-Wallace-Logan-Gove- Greeley-Wichita-Dundy-Hitchcock-Red Willow- 935 AM MDT Thu Jul 2 2020 /1035 AM CDT Thu Jul 2 2020/ This hazardous weather outlook is for extreme southwest Nebraska... northwest Kansas and east central Colorado. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... Isolated thunderstorms will begin to develop by 2 PM MDT between Yuma and Akron. Storms may quickly become severe and increase in coverage as they move east during the afternoon and evening. Main threats will be hail up to 2 inches in diameter, wind gusts of 60-80 MPH, blowing dust, and torrential rainfall. The largest hail will occur before storms group together, then the main threat will be damaging wind gusts, especially along the Highway 36 corridor. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... Severe thunderstorms may form Saturday afternoon and evening east of a Benkelman to Goodland and Tribune line. Main threats will be large hail, damaging wind gusts, and torrential rainfall. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will be needed this afternoon and evening. Storm reports by phone or through social media are greatly appreciated. JTL
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
352 PM MDT THU JUL 2 2020
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0340 PM HAIL 3 SW JOES 39.62N 102.72W
07/02/2020 E0.88 INCH YUMA CO PUBLIC
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
358 PM MDT THU JUL 2 2020
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0353 PM HAIL 1 ESE BURLINGTON 39.30N 102.26W
07/02/2020 E0.75 INCH KIT CARSON CO TRAINED SPOTTER
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
413 PM MDT THU JUL 2 2020
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0410 PM HAIL 3 S BURLINGTON 39.26N 102.27W
07/02/2020 E0.70 INCH KIT CARSON CO TRAINED SPOTTER
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
416 PM MDT THU JUL 2 2020
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0340 PM HAIL 5 WSW JOES 39.61N 102.76W
07/02/2020 E1.00 INCH YUMA CO PUBLIC
HAIL STRIPPED SOME CROPS ON PROPERTY.
&&Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Goodland KS
417 PM MDT Thu Jul 2 2020
KSZ027-022245-
Wallace KS-
417 PM MDT Thu Jul 2 2020
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR WESTERN WALLACE COUNTY UNTIL 445
PM MDT...
At 417 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over
Weskan, or 10 miles west of Sharon Springs, moving northeast at 30
mph.
Pea size hail and wind gusts up to 50 mph will be possible with this
storm.
Locations impacted include...
Sharon Springs and Weskan.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio
stations and available television stations for additional information
and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.
&&
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch remains in effect until 900 PM MDT for
east central Colorado...and west central Kansas.
LAT...LON 3874 10197 3886 10205 3893 10205 3907 10179
3882 10164
TIME...MOT...LOC 2217Z 206DEG 26KT 3888 10195
024PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
422 PM MDT THU JUL 2 2020
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0418 PM HAIL 1 WSW BURLINGTON 39.30N 102.29W
07/02/2020 M1.25 INCH KIT CARSON CO PUBLIC
&&The Goodland radar (KGLD), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:33 UTC.
21 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Mesonet station CW6099 measured a 59 mph wind gust associated with thunderstorm outflow.
Mesonet measured a 62 mph wind gusts.
Emergency Manager reported three wooden power poles down due to strong wind gusts.
Member of the public estimated 60-70 mph wind gusts associated with core of a thunderstorm.
ASOS station KGLD measured a 61 mph wind gust from the core of a thunderstorm passing over the site.
Logan County Emergency Manager reported power line blown down due to strong 50-60 mph wind gusts. Brownout conditions were reported due to blowing dust.
Emergency manager reported hail in Oakley that varied in size from dime to 1.5 inches.
KSU Mesonet measured 62 mph wind gusts that is co-located with a blown over linear irrigation system.
Law enforcement reported an estimated 60-70 mph wind gust with pea sized hail.
Law enforcement reported numerous live tree limbs and power lines down causing power outages. Four tank batteries for oil were blown over and an additional oil battery south of Hill City caught on fire. A power pole was also knocked down. The Hill City ASOS observed a 93 mph wind gust at the time the damage occurred.
Trained spotter observed several live tree limbs down with the largest measuring 4 inches in diameter. 50 mph wind speed based off recorded gust at time from the Norton AWOS.
Winds continued to gust for 29 minutes after the initial 88 mph gust at 8:09 pm CDT with a measured gust of 60 mph at 8:38 pm CDT.
Trained spotter reported an estimated 75 mph wind gust.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, July 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: 903518, 903519, 903504, 903894, 903521, 903522, 903891, 903507, 903825, 903833, 903841, 903842, 903508, 903843, 903844, 903845, 903846, 903847, 903849, 903851, 903899, 903900, 903868, 903869.