Thunderstorm Wind in Norton County, Kansas

Many 2-3 ft. diameter trees were snapped off across town. One pine tree was also uprooted. Three or four houses in town had trees blown on them. One or two vehicles smashed under fallen trees. Part of a roof was torn off one house.

During the late afternoon severe thunderstorms began to move into Northwest Kansas from East Central Colorado. Multiple severe thunderstorms also developed over the area, but the majority of the severe weather was caused by one storm which moved east across the area. Accompanying the storm were wind gusts of 60 to nearly 90 MPH and hail up to softball in size. The highest wind gusts reported was 89 MPH 4 N of Atwood, and the largest hail reported was softball at Goodland. As the evening progressed, the severe weather reports transitioned from large hail to severe winds and wind damage. Widespread power outages were reported from Cheyenne east to Norton county as well as Graham and Sheridan counties due to the hundreds of power poles broken off. Some communities did not receive power until the following evening. A state of emergency was declared for Cheyenne and Rawlins counties due to the wide spread power outage.