Severe Thunderstorms in the Central U.S.; Upper Level Low Over California

Scattered severe thunderstorms are possible today across central and eastern Minnesota, Iowa, and western Wisconsin. A few tornadoes, isolated very large hail, and damaging winds may occur. An upper level low will help trigger scattered thunderstorms over portions of central and southern California today along with a few inches of snow in the central Sierra Nevadas. Read More >

Overview

Thunderstorms produced widespread heavy rain across north central Kansas into southern Nebraska the evening of September 3rd and with rain continuing through the overnight hours on September 4th, 2016. Rainfall of 3 to 6 inches were common with the greatest amounts occurring in the Plainville, KS area and city rain gauge reports ranged from 6 inches to 6.5 inches. Some of the highest measured rainfall amounts include:

City	Rain amount (inches)
Damar, KS (1NNW)	5.52
Palco, KS (4ESE)	5.10
Plainville, KS	4.45
Natoma, KS	3.28

Runoff from the rainfall caused significant flooding of lowlands, rural roads and bridges, rivers and streams. Numerous county roads were closed and several culverts have been washed out. The North Fork of the Solomon River, the Bow Creek, the South Fork of the Solomon River, the Deer Creek, the Elm Creek, among others experienced significant river rises and flooding.

Rainfall from the evening of September 3rd
through the morning on September 4th, 2016.

Flooding

Hydrographs

Several rivers experienced rises in river levels and flooded. Below are images showing how the rivers reacted to the heavy rain upstream. The gauge along the North Fork of the Solomon River near Glade, KS actually recorded a new record crest of 18.65 feet at 2:45 a.m. the morning of Monday, Sept. 5th.

The orange horizontal line represents that river's "Minor" flood stage, the red line is "Moderate" flood stage and the purple line is "Major" flood stage.


North Fork of the Solomon River near Glade, KS	Bow Creek north of Stockton, KS	South Fork of the Solomon River near Damar, KS	South Fork of the Solomon River near Osborne, KS

Photos From The Area


Flooded field in Rooks County north of Plainville, KS Photo by Elizabeth Stamper.	Elm Creek flooding 7 miles north of Plainville, KS Photo by Elizabeth Stamper	Deer Creek flooding near Stuttgart, KS Photo by Amy Stephen	Deer Creek flooding near Stuttgart, KS Photo by Amy Stephen

Spillway St at Plainville Lake in Rooks County, KS. Photo by Butch Post	Barricaded roads near Speed, KS Photo by Deb Hayes	Flooding along the North Fork of the Solomon River south of Speed, KS Photo by Deb Hayes	Flooding south of Speed, KS Photo by Deb Hayes