On the afternoon and evening of April 14th, strong thunderstorms brought several rounds of severe weather which included many strong, long-tracked tornadoes. The event was unusual, in that the severity and strength of the wind fields feeding the storms was uncommonly strong for the Central Plains. One of the strongest tornadoes formed around 6:30 pm in central Kansas and moved northeastward into Rice County, where it produced a very strong quarter to a half mile wide tornado. The parent storm of this tornado then moved into Ottawa and Dickinson Counties, where it continued to produce strong tornadoes, until it finally weakened in eastern Clay County. Preliminary reports from Ottawa and Dickinson Counties indicate that a few farmsteads near Niles and Manchester were impacted by the tornado, as well as a gas transfer station along K-18 near Talmage.
Numerous other storms affected the area on Saturday afternoon. An initial batch of storms formed north of Wichita around 2:00 pm, and moved northeastward into north central and northeastern Kansas. These storms were only marginally severe as the largest hail size reported with these storms was 1.5" near Summerfield. The second round of storms moved into the area a few hours later, and included the aforementioned tornado, which caused damage near Niles, Manchester, and Talmage. Another round of thunderstorms moved into the area around midnight and brought more large hail, and possibly a tornado or two. The largest hail measured from these storms was roughly 3 to 4 inches in diameter near Randolph. By 3:00 a.m., the storms finally weakened to a point that severe weather was no longer a concern.
Local Storm Report Map
Above: Map of severe weather reports from across northeast Kansas (Click on images for larger view.)
- NOAA
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