September 3rd large hail

Evening Supercells Lay a Swath of Large Hail Across Central Kansas!

A strong upper level low pressure system tracked out of Eastern Nebraska and in to Northeast Kansas during the evening of September 3rd. Storms first developed during the early evening hours over extreme North-Central Kansas and tracked South in to Central Kansas as the overnight hours progressed. With plenty of wind spear, especially in the mid levels, these storms quickly became supercell thunderstorms producing a large swath of severe hail across Central Kansas.

The image below displays the severe weather reports across Central Kansas during the evening of September 3rd.

Radar loop showing the path the storms took across Central Kansas

Large hail that fell in Ellsworth. Picture courtesy of Henry Diehl

Supercell thunderstorm around 730pm as it enters northern Ellsworth County.

3-D radar view of the same storm as it entered northern Ellsworth County around 730 pm. Note the overshooting top extends to around 50,000ft with the main core of the storm extending to around 40,000ft.

The same supercell thunderstorm as it enters the town of Ellsworth.

Radar cross-section of the storm when it was southwest of the town of Ellsworth. Note the extremely high reflectivity extending to near 32,000ft.