Wildfire and Hail in Kansas, December 15 to 16, 2021

Widespread non-thunderstorm winds wreaked havoc across the county. Sustained wind speeds routinely ranged between 40 to 50 mph with gusts near 75 mph. Powerlines were reported down at 159th East and 21st Street North and at K96 and Hillside.

Here are some specific wind gust reports.|Three mile SE of Maize - 72 mph.|Wichita Eisenhower Airport - 69 mph.|Colonel James Jabara Airport - 66 mph.|Near Goddard - 65 mph.|McConnell AFB - 63 mph.|Beech Factory Airport - 58 mph.

Widespread non-thunderstorm winds wreaked havoc across the county. Sustained wind speeds routinely ranged between 40 to 50 mph with gusts in a 6o to 65 mph range.

Non-thunderstorm wind gusts from across the county.|Newton City-County Airport - 66 mph.|One mile WSW of Whitewater - 65 mph.|Three miles E of Newton - 63 mph.|Four miles ENE of Newton - 58 mph.

Widespread non-thunderstorm winds wreaked havoc across the county. Sustained wind speeds routinely ranged between 40 to 50 mph with a peak gust of 84 mph. A tree was reported down in Arlington and in Nickerson. A semi was rolled over on Highway 50 one mile NNE of Partridge. In SW Hutchinson, tree branches were blown out and shingles were blown off of roofs. Two miles WNW of Hutchinson, power poles were blown down.

Non-thunderstorm wind gusts across the county.|Three miles E of Hutchinson - 84 mph.|Three miles W of Langdon - 66 mph.|Six miles WNW of Haven - 60 mph.

Widespread non-thunderstorm winds wreaked havoc across the county. Sustained wind speeds routinely ranged between 40 to 50 mph with gusts reaching well into a 70 to 80 mph. One measured gust of 62 mph was noted as the peak wind. However, the anemometer quit working after this gust was recorded.

Non-thunderstorm wind gusts across the county.|City of Lyons - 60 mph.

Widespread non-thunderstorm winds wreaked havoc across the county. Sustained wind speeds routinely ranged between 40 to 50 mph with gusts reaching well into a 70 to 80 mph. One measured gust of 89 mph was noted at the peak. A semi-truck was blown over on Interstate 135 just south of Highway 4. One person was injured in the rollover.

Non-thunderstorm wind gusts from across the county.|Two miles NNE of Salina - 98 mph.|Three miles E of New Cambria - 95 mph.|Salina Regional Airport - 89 mph.|Six miles NW of Smolan - 78 mph.|In the town of Gypsum - 75 mph.|Three miles SW of Salina - 62 mph.

Widespread non-thunderstorm winds wreaked havoc across the county. Sustained wind speeds routinely ranged between 40 to 50 mph with gusts near 65 mph. Two miles NW of Goessel shingles were blown off of a roof and several tree limbs were blown down.

Non-thunderstorm wind gusts were reported across the county.|At the interchange of K61 and K153 - 85 mph.|In the city of McPherson - 62 mph.|One mile W of Canton - 61 mph.|Two miles SW of McPherson - 60 mph.

Widespread non-thunderstorm winds wreaked havoc across the county. Sustained wind speeds routinely ranged between 40 to 50 mph with gusts reaching well into the 70 mph range. One measured gust of 100 mph was noted at the peak. These wind speeds caused considerable damage countywide to structures, routinely caused reduced visibilities due to blowing dust, temporarily closed Interstate 70, blew down a significant number of power lines, and fueled the wildfires that were ignited. A roof was blown off of an outbuilding two miles S of Russell. In Russell, the west-facing windows were blown out in lots of homes, stoplights were blown down, and numerous trees were knocked down.

Non-thunderstorm wind gusts across the county.|Russell County Airport - 100 mph.|Two miles W of Bunker Hill - 75 mph.

The report of damage was submitted via mPING. No details were provided.

Widespread non-thunderstorm winds wreaked havoc across the county. Sustained wind speeds routinely ranged between 40 to 50 mph with gusts reaching well into the 70 mph range. One measured gust of 77 mph was noted at the peak.

Non-thunderstorm wind gusts from across the county.|One mile N of Ellsworth - 77 mph.|Four miles E of Wilson - 72 mph.|Six miles E of Kanopolis - 64 mph.|In the town of Lorraine - 72 mph.

The roof of the Caldwell HS gymnasium had a portion peeled back due to the strong gradient winds.

Widespread non-thunderstorm winds wreaked havoc across the county. Sustained wind speeds routinely ranged between 40 to 50 mph with gusts reaching well into the 70 mph range. Trees were uprooted or snapped and a roof was blown off in Ellinwood.

Non-thunderstorm wind gusts across the county.|In the city of Great Bend - 66 mph.|Great Bend Airport - 63 mph.

Widespread non-thunderstorm winds sustained over 40 mph occurred at many locations across the county. A measured wind gust of 60 mph was reported at the airport north of Eureka.

Widespread non-thunderstorm winds wreaked havoc across the county. Sustained wind speeds routinely ranged between 40 to 50 mph with gusts reaching well into the 70 mph range. One measured gust of 75 mph was noted at the peak. Power lines and a transformer was blown down, a railroad crossing arm was snapped, and tree limbs were blown down across the town of Lincoln Center. A semi-truck was overturned at mile marker 229 on Interstate 70. Power poles were blown down 2 miles N of Lincoln.

Non-thunderstorm wind gusts were reported across the county.|One mile NNE of Sylvan Grove - 65 mph.|Five miles SSW of Ash Grove - 63 mph.

A high wind gust of 58 mph was measured by the public 7 miles north of Arkansas City. Elsewhere across the county, wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph were common. Power poles were snapped 3 miles south of Udall and a roof was blown was peeled back 6 miles south of Douglass.

Widespread non-thunderstorm winds wreaked havoc across the county. Sustained wind speeds routinely ranged between 40 to 50 mph with gusts near 65 mph. A large tree was noted as being blown down in Marion.

Non-thunderstorm wind gusts were reported across the county.|Two miles NE of Durham - 70 mph.|Two miles N of Marion - 68 mph.

Very poor visibility was also reported.

This was reported as an estimated gust.

Widespread non-thunderstorm winds wreaked havoc across the county. Sustained wind speeds routinely ranged between 40 to 50 mph with gusts near 65 mph. A semi-truck was blown over on Highway 500 4 miles E of Leon.

Non-thunderstorm wind gusts across the county.|El Dorado Memorial Airport - 66mph.|In the city of Augusta - 63 mph.|Two miles S of Towanda - 63 mph.|In the town of Rose Hill - 62 mph.|Lloyd Stearman Field in Benton - 60 mph.

Extreme non-thunderstorm winds up to 100 mph downed several power poles and as the poles and lines hit the ground sparks were produced and caused the start of the Four County Wildfire. With the strong winds, the fire quickly moved east ahead of any possible fire suppression causing damage and evacuations along the way.

The number of communities evacuated, 4 (Paradise, Waldo, Fairport, and a portion of Luray). |Estimated number of structures damaged by fire, 50 plus.|Estimated number of structures destroyed by fire, 70 plus.|Estimated number of injuries/fatalities, 4 injuries.|Estimated number of acres burned was 121,000.|Estimated number of livestock killed, over 1000.|Estimated number of livestock relocated due to loss of grazing, over 1000.

In addition to these numbers, hundreds of miles of fencing were damaged, a significant number of bales of hay was lost in the fire.

A power line and transformer were blown down in Lincoln at 5th and Lost St. A railroad crossing arm was snapped along with scattered reports of tree limbs down.

This was reported as an estimated gust.

This was a measured wind gust while the sustained winds were at 58 mph.

Submitted a picture of a funnel as it moved away from their homestead. The image was relayed to the NWS from Saline County Emergency Management.

This was a measured gust.

A wind damage report from mPING. No damage is available in the app.

This was a measured wind gust.

One foot in diameter tree branch was blown down and visibilities were reduced to 1.5 miles.

This was a measured gust.

A damage report was relayed via mPING. The app does not allow for specifics.

Several trees were blown down. This was reported as an estimated gust.

This was a measured gust.

Tree limbs were blown down and light poles were knocked over.

This was reported as an estimated gust.

Widespread non-thunderstorm winds wreaked havoc across the county. Sustained wind speeds routinely ranged between 40 to 50 mph with gusts near 60 mph. A wind gust at the Kingman airport registered 58 mph.

This was a measured gust.

This was a measured gust.

This was reported as an estimated gust.

This was a measured wind gust.

Widespread non-thunderstorm winds wreaked havoc across the county. Sustained wind speeds routinely ranged between 40 to 50 mph with gusts near 60 mph. A peak gust of 60 mph was noted on the KS mesonet near Elmdale. A wind gust of 58 mph was reported at the Tallgrass Prairie National Reserve.

A damage report was relayed via mPING. The app does not allow for specifics.

This was a measured gust.

This was reported as an estimated gust.

A county official reported damage. No specifics were given.

This was a measured gust.

This was reported as an estimated gust.

This was reported as an estimated gust. The observer also reports visibility of 0 miles.

The report was on highway 160 north of town.

A large tree was knocked down along with two power poles. This was a delayed report.

Lots of trees were blown down between Iola and Humboldt on 1100 road.

Several three inch tree limbs were blown out of trees.

A damage report was relayed via mPING. The app does not allow for specifics.