Widely scattered strong to severe storms impacted portions of south-central Kansas during the early afternoon hours of June 4th. A microburst at I-235 and Central Avenue caused minor structural damage with wind gusts estimated to be up to 85 mph.
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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 ICT wrote it up.
Widely scattered strong to severe storms impacted portions of south-central Kansas during the early afternoon hours of June 4th. A microburst at I-235 and Central Avenue caused minor structural damage with wind gusts estimated to be up to 85 mph. This included downing transmission lines which stopped traffic on 235. Other storms around the area produced around 60 to 65 mph wind gusts.
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 Jun 4, 11:12 AM CST, 34 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wichita KS 1212 PM CDT Thu Jun 4 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Scattered showers and thunderstorms continue across central KS this morning with additional chances area-wide this afternoon - Active weather pattern into early next week; widespread severe weather is not anticipated - Seasonal temperatures over the next week with highs in the 80s/90s && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 244 AM CDT Thu Jun 4 2026 As of 2 AM Thursday morning, an expansive midlevel ridge remains across the eastern CONUS with troughing from the Baja region through central high Plains. A midlevel shortwave trough was located from the TX Panhandle through west-central KS. This feature continues to result in numerous showers and thunderstorms from the TX Panhandle through eastern NE. Thus far, the bulk of rain showers and thunderstorms have remained west of I-135. This is likely to be case for the remainder of the nighttime hours. While severe weather is not anticipated, PW values up to 1.6" will support heavy rainfall. The aforementioned midlevel shortwave trough is progged to slowly lift across western KS and into NE throughout the day today. The lack of mixed-layer inhibition combined with the large scale ascent should result in another afternoon of scattered thunderstorms with the greatest coverage across central KS. HREF mean surface based instability is forecast to approach 2000 J/kg across portions of central and south-central KS this afternoon. Midlevel winds remain quite weak (generally 25-30 kt) but sufficient veering will produce effective shear values up to 30 kt. As such, a few thunderstorms will have the potential to produce hail up to quarter size, wind gusts up to 60 mph, and heavy rainfall. Much of Friday is expected to remain dry as midlevel heights gradually increase. A northern stream shortwave trough will traverse the northern Plains Friday afternoon/evening. This will shunt a weak surface trough axis into northern KS by late afternoon. Increasing convergence along the front is likely result in thunderstorm development from portions of northern KS into NE/IA. Surface dew points near 70 across portions of central/northern KS will overlap midlevel lapse rates of 8-8.5 C/km, resulting in 3000-4000 J/kg of MLCAPE Friday evening. Weak midlevel flow will limit effective shear to 20-30 kt. This overlap of instability, shear, and high PW environment will support hail up to golf ball size, damaging winds up to 60 mph, and heavy rainfall. The potential for an isolated severe storm or two is mainly confined to areas along/north of I- 70. The greatest potential for widespread rainfall appears to arrive late Saturday through Sunday night as a slow moving shortwave trough glides from the southern high Plains through central and eastern KS. There remains some discrepancy with the exact track of the shortwave trough with the ECMWF lifting the trough from the TX Panhandle into west-central KS. The GFS/NAM have an eastern track and lift shortwave trough across eastern KS. This eastern track would confine the best rain chances to southeast KS. Model trends will need to be monitored over the next 24-36 hours. On the heels of the shortwave trough passage Sunday, a surface trough axis will deepen across the central/northern high Plains as a northern stream shortwave trough traverses the northern Rockies. Thunderstorms are likely to develop across northeast CO/southeast WY/western NE Sunday afternoon. A strengthening LLJ (30-40 kt) may allow for convection to grow upscale into an MCS Sunday evening and propagate east or southeast along an instability. There remains model spread where this instability gradient will develop and currently ranges from west- central NE through southeast NE (GFS) to southwest NE through east- central KS (ECMWF). Certainly something to keep an eye on over the coming days. A similar scenario may evolve late Monday into Tuesday with high Plains convection spreading east/southeast into the nighttime hours. Rain chances will begin to decrease towards the middle of next week as the midlevel ridge amplifies across the central Plains. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z FRIDAY/... Issued at 1209 PM CDT Thu Jun 4 2026 Cigs trended lower through the morning than forecasted, so have translated that into the TAFs with this update. Showers and isolated thunderstorms that tracked across portions of central KS this morning have generally moved out of the area. As instability increases and convective inhibition decreases after 18Z, expect isolated showers and thunderstorms to develop across central KS. Probabilities remain low, so have continued with PROB30 groups through around 00Z for most sites. Note that some weak convection is already initiating along a line from KICT to KSLN as of 17Z/Thursday. Convection will generally wane after 00Z, with skies becoming SCT at mid levels overnight. Diurnal southerly winds increase around 14Z/Friday. Across southeast KS, including KCNU, low clouds and some spotty showers are possible (20% chance) after around 09Z through much of the rest of the period. && .ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && DISCUSSION...BRF AVIATION...CFH
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Wichita KS 1208 PM CDT Thu Jun 4 2026 KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-050830- 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- 1208 PM CDT Thu Jun 4 2026 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central Kansas, east central Kansas, south central Kansas and southeast Kansas. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Isolated to scattered storms will be possible this afternoon, mainly across central and south central Kansas. The stronger storms will be capable of hail up to nickel size, 50 to 60 mph downburst winds along with heavy rainfall. A few of these storms may linger into the early evening hour across the Flint Hills. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday Scattered thunderstorms are possible Friday evening for areas mainly along and north of I-70. Thunderstorm chances will increase for Saturday night through Sunday. The main hazards through this time frame will be heavy rainfall and downburst winds. Additional thunderstorm chances will return late Sunday night into Monday morning and again late Monday night into Tuesday morning. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated today or tonight. && For a graphical version of this information, see our webpage at: https://www.weather.gov/erh/ghwo?wfo=ict
The Wichita radar (KICT), 4 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:46 UTC.
5 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
There were several power poles that were knocked down and leaning with power lines laid out across I-235. There were also several tree limbs down; however, there was minimal damage to nearby homes. Over 7000 people were without power as a result of the damage.
Estimated wind gusts were around 50 to 60 mph.
Wind gusts were estimated to be around 60 mph.
There were several large tree limbs blown down in Mulvane.
Wind gusts were estimated to be between 50 and 60 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, June 2026
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: 1336759, 1336760, 1336761, 1336762, 1336763.