July 16th 2023 destructive supercell thunderstorm

Overview

A powerful supercell thunderstorm tracked straight south during the early evening of hours of July 16th. This storm produced extreme wind gusts across Russell and Barton counties. At the Russell Airport, a 77 mph wind gust was recorded. These strong winds continued as the storm moved into Great Bend, which resulted in widespread wind damage throughout town. Wind gusts up to 85 mph were estimated in the western sections of Great Bend where a roof was peeled off a church. In addition to the strong winds, this same storm produced hail up to softball size!

A brief tornado which was rated an EF0 also occurred approximately 5 miles to the SW of Dorrance in Russell County. Most of the damage was to trees, however, one barn/shed collapsed and debris was strewn about at another homestead.

Supercell approaching St. John. Picture by Mark Pata

Photos & Video

Photos & Video


Radar animation showing the supercell dropping south across central Kansas	Infrared satellite loop showing the same storm tracking south

Just a few photos from last night’s tornado warned storm that rolled through Great Bend. Worked throughout the night on clean up efforts. @NWSWichita #kswx pic.twitter.com/tqiZ8nvL04 — Peyton Campbell (@PeytonCampbelWX) July 17, 2023	A few from last nights storms. These were taken from Luray to Bunker Hill. #kswx #kansas @NWSWichita pic.twitter.com/K825k5F628 — Tanner Colvin (@tcksphoto) July 17, 2023	@KSNStormTrack3 @NWSWichita Sorry for delay - taping up broken windows. I picked these up from my yard in Great Bend 30-40 minutes after it stopped hailing. Picture taken approx. 7:00. pic.twitter.com/UpVjiNJdfH — Teresa (@MyLifeWithCats) July 17, 2023
Fantastic mammatus on display in Kingman! @kwch12 @KWCHPeyton @NWSWichita @thestormreport @SevereStudios #storm12 #kswx pic.twitter.com/VWQcrmVRis — Rodney Price âš¡ (@1LightningRod) July 17, 2023	WOW! Baseball-sized hail from Renee DeYoung in great bend from this evening's storm.@KSNNews @KSNStormTrack3 @NWSWichita #kswx pic.twitter.com/k7uaAhpFKY — Meteorologist Lucy Doll (@LucyDollWx) July 17, 2023	Widespread tree damage throughout Great Bend #kswx @NWSWichita @CamVenableKAKE @ka pic.twitter.com/77m8XVO9Ke — WxQuiK (@Wx_QuiK_) July 17, 2023

East of Hoisington #kswx @NWSWichita @KWCHRoss pic.twitter.com/yfH44UsLXZ — Jacob Burgardt (@JacobBurgardtWX) July 17, 2023	Hearing about some pretty bad wind damage in Great Bend. They got rocked with tennis ball sized hail driven by nearly 80mph winds. There is speculation if it's straight line wind/RFD or a tornado. Jeremy Long sent us this photo showing that the church lost its roof. @NWSWichita pic.twitter.com/NCM6uVDfgD — Cameron Venable, CBM KAKE (@CamVenableKAKE) July 17, 2023	Monster supercell south of Great Bend, Kansas. Just core punched this beast. @NWSWichita pic.twitter.com/1I3EUo7lD6 — Freddy McKinney (@FreddyMcKinneyR) July 16, 2023

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