Drought conditions in eastern Kansas improved significantly with no areas of severe drought (D2) remaining. In central and parts of south central Kansas, drought conditions worsened with much of central Kansas now in the severe drought (D2) category.
Every event with a place to put it; 16 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 ICT wrote it up.
Drought conditions in eastern Kansas improved significantly with no areas of severe drought (D2) remaining. In central and parts of south central Kansas, drought conditions worsened with much of central Kansas now in the severe drought (D2) category. This was due to the vast majority of the rain falling in southeast Kansas during the month of April.
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 Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 31, 11:03 PM CST, 57 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wichita KS 1203 AM CDT Mon Apr 1 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Severe storms still looking likely across the Eastern Flint Hills and especially southeast KS Mon afternoon and evening. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 215 PM CDT Sun Mar 31 2024 Currently have a positively oriented upper trough extending from the Central Great Basin to just off of the Southern CA coast. Meanwhile, weak upper ridging extends from the Plains into the Mississippi Valley. At the surface, warm front extends across central MO into Central KS, with a dryline extending from Central KS through far western OK. Upper trough will continue to dig across the Desert Southwest this evening with a lead piece of energy and associated strong upper jet still forecast to eject out into the Southern High Plains by Mon afternoon. There is a small chance for a couple elevated storms over southeast KS Mon morning, but the more widespread activity is still expected later in the day. 12z models agree fairly well on position of surface features now, with the cold front just east of the KS Turnpike by 18z with a dryline extending down through OK, generally just west of I-135. Still looking for storms to develop along the front generally after 18z, east of the KS Turnpike. Expecting plenty of low clouds around eastern KS which could delay initiation by a couple hours. However, feel there will still be enough large scale lift to get storms going even with low clouds. With storm motions quickly off to the northeast, another scenario to get severe storms in our forecast area would be for them to develop along the dryline in OK and move into southeast KS. Still looking like the main hazards will be large hail and damaging winds. Lack of good low level shear should limit the tornado threat to mainly a few brief ones. By early Mon evening, severe storms will be moving out of southeast KS, with another round of storms moving into south central KS associated with the main vort lobe moving-in. With mid and upper levels cooling, wouldn't be shocked if a few of these storms produce some small hail. By 12z Tue, surface low is expected to be located over central MO with most of the forecast area in the wrap around region of this system. Both NAM and GFS are actually hinting at some snow mixing-in Tue morning for northern half of forecast area. Meanwhile the 12z ECMWF came in warmer and leaves snow out. For now may just mention a mix over a few central KS counties Tue morning. Good model agreement on some additional shortwave energy diving quickly out of Manitoba and into the Upper Mississippi Valley by Tue afternoon and into the Western Ohio Valley by Tue night. This will allow weak surface high pressure to slide into the Plains for Tue and Wed. Attention will then turn to the next upper trough expected to affect the CONUS, which will be digging just off of the CA coast on Wed night into Thu. It will then slowly track into the Central Great Basin for Fri afternoon/evening. This will bring strong return flow across the Plains starting Fri and continuing through Sat with high confidence in above normal temperatures. The main issue with this next system looks to be moisture quality. The cold front to move through Mon night-Wed pushes the better moisture way down into the southern Gulf. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY/... Issued at 1140 PM CDT Sun Mar 31 2024 Low level moisture continues surging northward late this evening with widespread MVFR cigs already impacting much of the region. MVFR cigs will persist in the moist sector into the morning hours on Monday before gradually mixing out later in the day. A developing LLJ will result in some LLWS across much of the area into the early morning hours on Monday. Meanwhile, a cold front will sharpen across northern Kansas tonight and surge southward during the day on Monday. IFR cigs are likely in the post-frontal airmass through the early morning hours before lifting with some MVFR cigs likely during the day on Monday behind the front. The front will become a focus for storms during the afternoon hours, especially east of the Kansas Turnpike region. We could see other more isolated or widely scattered showers and storms during the predawn hours on Monday for areas mainly east/southeast of the Kansas Turnpike. Gusty southwest winds ahead of the front will shift to the northwest in it's wake. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 215 PM CDT Sun Mar 31 2024 Fire weather concerns are expected to remain on the low side but will ramp back up toward the end of the work week. Rainfall chances will increase Mon afternoon and become more widespread Mon night. In addition, cooler temps will overspread the area for Tue and Wed which will help keep RH's on the higher side. Fri looks like the next time we will have widespread very high fire danger, as south winds really ramp up. && .ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && DISCUSSION...RBL AVIATION...MWM FIRE WEATHER...RBL
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Wichita KS 337 PM CDT Sun Mar 31 2024 KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-010930- Russell-Lincoln-Barton-Ellsworth-Saline-Rice-McPherson-Marion-Chase- Reno-Harvey-Butler-Greenwood-Woodson-Allen-Kingman-Sedgwick-Harper- Sumner-Cowley-Elk-Wilson-Neosho-Chautauqua-Montgomery-Labette- 337 PM CDT Sun Mar 31 2024 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of Central Kansas, South Central Kansas and Southeast Kansas. .DAY ONE...Tonight A couple strong thunderstorms are possible late tonight across southeast Kansas. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday A few strong thunderstorms with small hail are possible Monday morning over southeast Kansas. Storms are expected to increase in strength and areal coverage Monday afternoon and evening mainly across southeast Kansas. Large hail up to golf ball size and damaging winds up to 70 mph will be the primary severe weather threats. An isolated tornado is also possible. Thunderstorms could return on Saturday night and Sunday as another weather system is forecast to move into the region. Warm and breezy conditions could elevate the fire danger risk during the afternoon hours on both Friday and Saturday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated tonight. && For a graphical version of this information, see our webpage at: https://www.weather.gov/erh/ghwo?wfo=ict
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
16 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Drought conditions worsened in April from moderate drought (D1) to severe drought (D2) across the entire county.
Drought conditions improved across the county with only moderate drought (D1) for April.
Drought conditions improved across the county with only abnormally dry (D0) conditions noted for April.
Drought conditions worsened across the county from abnormally dry (D1) to severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions worsened across the county from moderate drought (D1) to severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions worsened slightly in the northwest parts of the county with the area of severe drought (D2) expanding some. The remainder of the county remained in moderate drought (D1).
Drought conditions worsened across the county from moderate drought (D1) to severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions worsened across the county from abnormally dry (D0) to severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions worsened across the northwest portions of county from abnormally dry (D0) to severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions worsened across the county from moderate drought (D1) to severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions improved across the county with no areas of the county in severe drought (D2). All areas are below this level.
Drought conditions worsened across the county from moderate drought (D1) to severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions worsened across the county from moderate drought (D1) to severe drought (D2) across the county.
Drought conditions worsened across the county from abnormally dry (D0) to moderate drought (D1). In the southeastern areas of the county, conditions worsened to severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions worsened across the county from moderate drought (D1) to severe drought (D2).
Drought conditions worsened in western and southwestern areas of the county from moderate drought (D1) to severe drought (D2).
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, April 2024
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: 1177544, 1177545, 1177546, 1177547, 1177548, 1177549, 1177550, 1177551, 1177552, 1177553, 1177554, 1177555, 1177556, 1177557, 1177558, 1177559.