High Wind — Grundy, Missouri

2021-12-15 · Grundy, Missouri

Event narrative

Through the afternoon on December 15th strong wind caused sustained winds in the 40 to 50 mph range, with frequent gusts well over 60 mph. While most ASOS and AWOS stations recorded gusts around 65 mph, there were several reports of higher winds and damage representative of around 70 mph, such as tree damage and powerlines down. This all preceded strong thunderstorms that also caused strong winds and scattered damage across the area.

Wider weather episode

On December 15, 2021, a large-scale weather event rolled through the Central Plains and Upper Midwest bringing tornadoes, dust storms, wildfires, and snow across several central and northern states. Record high temperatures were set across the region including Kansas City, with the Kansas City International Airport tying its all-time December high temperature.

Non-convective winds both ahead and behind the thunderstorms were quite strong. Several locations around the area reported wind gusts above 50 MPH with Lees Summit peaking at 53 MPH, St. Joseph reached 52 MPH, and Johnson County Executive Airport in Olathe, KS reached 60 MPH. Once the line of storms arrived, several areas reported winds in excess of 75 MPH. The Kansas City Downtown Airport reached a peak gust of 77MPH. This resulted in the roof damage to a few airport buildings. Numerous trees and power poles fell across much of eastern Kansas and western Missouri. Areas in far northwest Missouri observed winds of 80-90 MPH as the thunderstorms moved through. Several homes and buildings were damaged across northern Missouri including missing shingles, peeled siding, and blown out windows.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 997292. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.