Thunderstorms whip through NW Kansas
By KALEY CONNER
A large, fragmented line of thunderstorms hammered several western Kansas counties Friday evening, resulting in heavy rain, hail and four reported tornados.
Tornadic activity was identified in Gove and Lane counties, with two funnels reported about 13 miles southeast of Gove, one a few miles southwest of Utica, and another east of Pendennis.
The tornados lasted only a few minutes, and National Weather Service meteorologists in Goodland and Dodge City had not received any damage reports resulting from the funnels as of Saturday morning.
Baseball-sized hail was reported in Norton County, with golf ball-sized hail shattering vehicle windows at Prairie Dog State Park. Nearly 3 inches of rainfall was reported at Norton Dam.
"Norton got hit pretty hard," said Jerry Killingsworth, a NWS meteorologist in Goodland. "It almost looks like Norton got hit by three different thunderstorms."
Gusts of almost 70 mph were recorded in Graham County, and more than 2 inches of rain was measured north of WaKeeney.
The storms got their start when an evening cold front swept through the area, associated with an upper level disturbance, Killingsworth said.
The broken line of thunderstorms swept through a wide area, generally moving southeast. Some deviant systems, like the one in Norton County, headed almost straight south.
"It's just another day in Kansas," Killingsworth said.
Phillips County also was pounded by the storm, with power lines near Logan falling to high winds measured at more than 60 miles per hour.
Mike Moritz, a NWS meteorologist in Hastings, Neb., said street flooding was reported in Logan, as well as nickle-sized hail. A flood warning remained in effect until Saturday morning for Phillips County.
"Logan was the place to be last night," Moritz said. "Really, Phillips County took the brunt -- there were really some widespread storms throughout the area."
In Ellis County, penny-sized hail was reported near Catharine, with about 1.22 inches of rainfall reported along Victoria's west edge.
The highest measurement reported in Hays was 0.77 inches of rainfall collected at the Hays water plant, said Ray Burgert, NWS meteorologist in Dodge City.
Looking to this week, temperatures will escalate today and Monday, with a chance for more showers and storms from Tuesday to week's end.