Small but Mighty Storms Bring Hail, Wind and Welcome Rain Across the NWKS Area

Thunderheads late Wednesday Afternoon South of Colby. Photo NWKS Radio

Wednesday evening brought a little bit of everything to Northwest Kansas and eastern Colorado: heavy rain, hail, strong winds, a landspout and one impressive lightning show.

Severe thunderstorms first began popping up around 4:42 p.m. Central Time Wednesday in portions of Gove, Logan and Thomas counties. From there, storms continued to develop across the NWKS Radio listening area through the evening, with much of the activity staying south of and along Interstate 70. Thunderstorms continued in parts of the region until around midnight.

Several Small Severe Storms. Screenshot of radar from Weatherology

While the storms were relatively small and scattered, some of them packed quite a punch.

According to storm reports from the National Weather Service in Goodland, a 58 mph thunderstorm wind gust was recorded five miles south of Burlington, Colorado.

Hail was another big story. Reports included:

• 1.75-inch hail near Seibert, Colorado

• 1.50-inch hail 11 miles north-northeast of Monument Rock in Gove County

• 0.88-inch hail five miles northwest of Ruleton in Sherman County

• 0.75-inch hail two miles south-southwest of Goodland

• 0.50-inch hail at two locations near Peconic, Colorado

An emergency manager also reported a landspout approximately four miles south of Oakley in Logan County.

SW of Grinnell last night sent in from listener C Frick

NWKS Radio Listeners Report Plenty of Rain

For many locations, the biggest story was some much-needed rainfall.

NWKS Radio asked listeners Thursday morning to check their rain gauges, and the totals showed just how scattered Wednesday night's storms were. Some locations received an inch or more, while others barely collected enough to settle the dust.

Listener reports included:

• 1.20 inches in Winona, along with hail

• 1.10 inches from one gauge 11 miles south of Herndon, with another gauge at the same location measuring 0.90 inches

• 1.00 inch at Russell Springs

• 0.78 inches at Wallace

• 0.60 inches about 10 miles east of Atwood, where the listener also reported full terraces and standing water in low areas

• 0.43 inches west of Gove

• 0.32 inches just west of Selden

• 0.28 inches at Kanorado

• 0.22 inches near Smoky Gardens

• 0.20 inches at Norton

• 0.15 inches in Goodland

• 0.15 inches about 4 1/4 miles west of Goodland

• 0.13 inches two miles south of Goodland, along with nickel-size hail

• 0.01 inches at Oberlin

Across the state line in eastern Colorado, listeners reported 1.40 inches at Burlington, 0.87 inches about 10 miles northwest of Burlington with some hail, and 0.85 inches southeast of Burlington. Another Burlington report measured 0.50 inches.

Those numbers tell the story of summertime thunderstorms in the High Plains: one rain gauge can be overflowing while another just a few miles away barely gets wet.

Lightening lit up the sky South/Southwest of Selden. Photo sent to us from listner M Bruggeman

Quite the Lightning Show

Even for those who missed out on the heavier rain, Wednesday night's storms were hard to miss.

Listeners reported a spectacular lightning show south of St. Francis, while another listener near Selden described frequent lightning to the south and southwest around 9:30 p.m. Later in the night, close lightning strikes, loud thunder and heavy rain moved into that area.

In eastern Colorado, a listener staying near Bethune reported severe wind and a heavy downpour. There was no hail at their location, but the wind was strong enough to send a trampoline flying.

NWKS Radio Stayed With the Storms

As storms continued to develop Wednesday night, NWKS Radio stayed on top of the changing weather.

Garrett Wellbrock was on the air providing severe weather coverage, while Kristina kept listeners updated through the NWKS Radio Facebook page with warnings and information about what was happening across the region.

Listener reports also helped paint a real-time picture of conditions across Northwest Kansas and eastern Colorado, from hail and heavy rain to wind and lightning.

Wednesday night's storms may not have covered everyone, but where they did hit, they certainly made their presence known.

And judging by some of those rain gauge totals, there are at least a few spots around the NWKS Radio listening area where the ground got a pretty good drink.

What's Next?

According to the US National Weather Service in Goodland:

• Severe storms are possible over a limited portion of the area this evening and early Friday morning, mainly north of I-70 and east of Hwy 83 after sunset. Damaging winds are the main hazard. A few instances of large hail cannot be ruled out. Low confidence in thunderstorm coverage in the Goodland CWA.

• A few severe storms are possible Friday aft-eve, mainly north of I-70 in KS and NE. Localized wind gusts up to 65 mph are the main hazard. A few instances of marginally severe hail cannot be ruled out. Low confidence in thunderstorm development and coverage in the Goodland CWA. -Warming trend the remainder of the work week with highs approaching 100 degrees on Friday in Kansas and Nebraska.