Flash Flood — Phillips, Kansas

2024-05-31 · near Long Is, Phillips, Kansas

Event narrative

Radar estimates and local reports showed that between 2 and 5 inches of rain fell across the area. Emergency management reported the Deer Creek was out of its banks west of Phillipsburg, and that several rural roads across the area were either covered in water or had swift water running over them at one time and had to be closed. Some fencing was damaged at a farmstead by flood waters west of Glade and north of Highway 9. A local disaster declaration was made by emergency management.

Wider weather episode

Nearly stationary thunderstorms bring isolated heavy rain to portions of Phillips County during the early morning hours of May 31st. A mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) evolved out of a cluster of thunderstorms in W Kansas during the late evening hours on May 30th, then slowly shifted eastward overnight. The MCV sparked new thunderstorm activity in Phillips County around 3AM. Thunderstorms continued to blossom in coverage and intensity through 4AM while moving very little, if at all. Storm intensity began to decrease by around dawn, but continuous light rain continued all the way through about 9AM. When all was said and done, up to 5 inches of rain fell over western portions of the county, which resulted in areas of flooding. The main impacts were damaged crops and flooded (mainly rural) roads.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.9399, -99.6259)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1180413. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.