Large hail, tornadoes & heavy rain across central Kansas on June 1st 2011

Large Hail, Tornadoes, and Heavy Rains

Across Central Kansas

June 1st, 2011

What happened: Initial development of thunderstorms began in the mid morning hours which further evolved through the afternoon and evening hours. These storms produced a few tornadoes, large hail, gusty winds, and flooding rains.

Meteorological Background: A ridge of high pressure had camped out across the central United States for much of Wednesday, June 1st; however, a surface boundary which stretched from northwestern Kansas and sourthwestern Nebraska to eastern Kansas combined with abundant instability helped prompt development of severe thunderstorms. The early development of storms and associated outflow helped to enhance the surface boundary which further aided these storms. A brief tornado touched down in central Kansas. These storms also produced large hail up to baseball size, winds of about 65-80 mph, and very heavy rains which led to significant flooding for northern Kansas.

Overview loop of radar data and warnings

Visible satellite imagery

Radar Images

Radar image of supercell along the Russell and Lincoln County border.

Radar image of doppler wind velocities. Strong rotation occurs where bright red and green are close together seen along the eastern edge of Russell County.

Radar image of supercell along the Russell and Lincoln County border.

Radar image of doppler wind velocities. Strong rotation occurs where bright red and green are close together seen along the eastern edge of Russell County.

Damage Pictures

Straight-line wind damage to grain elevator on the south side of Lincoln.	Weak tornado damage 3 miles west/northwest of Lincoln	Weak tornado damage 3 miles west/northwest of Lincoln	Straight-line wind damage 2NW of Sylvan Grove
Straight-line wind damage 2NW of Sylvan Grove