Weather History

This Day In Weather History

In 2010, monstrous severe thunderstorms hammered parts of South Central and Southeast Kansas with humongous hail, that at times, ranged from 4 to nearly 8 inches in diameter. Destructive 65 to 80 mph winds and 8 weak tornadoes also occurred. The largest hailstone, which landed 2 miles west of Mid-Continent Airport, was a 7.75 inch diameter "meteorite", that set a new Kansas record. Numerous hailstones ranging from baseball to grapefruit sized pounded West and Southwest Wichita. Thousands of homes were heavily damaged. In extreme cases, the hail punched holes in the roofs with some of the hail landing in bedrooms and living rooms. Thousands of vehicles were heavily damaged, if not totaled, as were trees and power lines. The most serious wind damage occurred when 80 mph winds tore the steeple off a church and hurled it into an SUV. Total damage was estimated around $15.2 million.