Severe drought (D2) conditions expanded in south central Kansas starting on the 5th and lasting for much of the month. The counties impacted included Harper, Kingman and Sumner.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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.
Severe drought (D2) conditions expanded in south central Kansas starting on the 5th and lasting for much of the month. The counties impacted included Harper, Kingman and Sumner.
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 May 4, 11:40 PM CST, 20 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wichita KS 1240 AM CDT Tue May 5 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Strong to marginally severe storms are possible late this afternoon into tonight with hail as the primary risk. - Significant cool down expected for Tuesday and Wednesday with gusty northeasterly winds on Tuesday. - Scattered rain chances will be possible Tuesday through late Wednesday. Strong to severe storms are not anticipated. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 235 PM CDT Mon May 4 2026 Current water vapor imagery and RAP analysis show an upper low digging over Ontario with troughing stretching from the Northern Plains to the Great Lakes area. Weak upper ridging is sliding across the southwestern US into the Southern Plains. At the surface, a low is over Ontario with a cold front draping down through Wisconsin into the Middle Mississippi Valley and into the Nebraska/Kansas border. A dryline is setting up in central KS down through central TX. Instability will continue to increase late this afternoon to 1500-2000 J/kg with steep mid-level lapse rates and adequate effective shear. There is a low chance storms for storms to develop this afternoon near the dryline though better storm chances will arrive after 7PM. The cold front will continue to push south into our area combined with an increasing low-level jet will increase storm chances across eastern KS Monday night into early Tuesday. The primary threats with this activity will be hail up to quarter size, strong gusty winds and locally heavy rainfall. The cold front is progged to move south of our area by Tuesday morning with gusty northeasterly winds behind the front. It is possible for some areas in south-central KS to approach Wind Advisory criteria though it would be very marginal for a short duration. Scattered rain chances will be possible through much of Tuesday in central and southeast KS though better chances will remain in northwest KS into Nebraska and in southern Missouri. Given the expected cloud cover and much cooler temperatures behind the front, high temperatures are likely to top out in the 50s with some locations in southern KS reaching the low 60s on Tuesday afternoon. Model guidance continues to bring an upper trough off the shore of California into the southwestern CONUS late Tuesday and phase with the upper trough over the Northern Plains. This trough combined with 700 mb frontogenesis will increase rain chances with the best chances in western KS into parts of central KS. Given the lack of instability, mainly rain showers and possibly a few weak thunderstorms are likely Tuesday night into Wednesday. Rain chances may continue into Wednesday afternoon in parts of central KS with higher rain chances remaining in western KS. This trough will continue to shift east late Wednesday night, decreasing rain chances into Wednesday night. Well below normal temperatures are forecast for Wednesday afternoon with highs in the 50s. Upper ridging is progged to build into the western CONUS on Thursday with flow aloft over the Plains shifting back to northwesterly by Thursday afternoon. Thickness will start to increase promoting a warming trend starting Thursday and continue into the weekend. Mostly dry conditions are expected Thursday through Saturday afternoon with rain chances possibly returning Saturday night into Sunday as the next shortwave trough is progged to move into the Central Rockies. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1230 AM CDT Tue May 5 2026 Scattered showers and storms will track slowly east into southeast Kansas during the overnight hours as a cold front continues to move south. Northeast winds will increase behind the front then gradually decrease as the afternoon goes one. Otherwise low clouds in MVFR category will develop over southern Kansas and look to persist into the morning hours. && .ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && DISCUSSION...GC AVIATION...CDJ
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Wichita KS 1228 AM CDT Tue May 5 2026 KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-060530- 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- 1228 AM CDT Tue May 5 2026 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central Kansas, east central Kansas, south central Kansas and southeast Kansas. .DAY ONE...Tonight Scattered thunderstorms will persist into the overnight hours across southeast Kansas. A few of the stronger storms could produce small hail. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday Periodic showers with a few embedded thunderstorms are possible across the region Tuesday through Wednesday, but severe weather is not expected with this activity. Storms will then return for the Saturday night through Sunday time frame. .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.
3 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe drought (D2) encompassed the county starting on the 5th with a slight improvement on the 19th in far north central parts of the county after storms on the 18th. The rest of the county remained in D2 status with only 1.57 inches of rain through the 26th according to CoCoRaHS observations.
Severe drought (D2) entered western portions of the county on the 5th which was expanded to all but the northeast corner on the 12th. There was slight improvement in far southeast portions of the county on the 19th.
Severe drought (D2) entered southern portions of the county on the 5th with the rest of the county in abnormally dry to moderate drought status. After thunderstorms moved through on the 18th with a couple of inches of rain falling, this did improve the status to moderate drought (D1) except the far southwest corner which remained in D2.
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, May 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: 1344645, 1344646, 1344647.