Lake Effect Snow in the Lower Great Lakes; Rain and High Elevation Snow in the West

Lake-effect snow will continue downwind of Lakes Erie and Ontario through Friday. In the Western U.S., rain and higher elevation snow will continue over the Great Basin through Friday. A front will move over the Pacific Northwest Thursday afternoon and produce light rain and higher elevation snow over the Cascades through Saturday. 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

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Lake Effect Snow in the Lower Great Lakes; Rain and High Elevation Snow in the West

Sept. 4th, 2016: Significant Rain and Flooding Affects Portions of North Central Kansas