Tornadoes and large hail reported in Hays area as severe weather moves through Kansas

Update, 11 p.m.

A chance for severe weather in central Kansas remains through at least midnight.

An NWS Wichita map shows severe storms will be possible for an area encompassing Salina, McPherson, Hutchinson, Great Bend, Hays and other towns and counties. The storms will be capable of producing hail up to the size of tennis balls, damaging winds up to 70 mph and very heavy rainfall that could cause flooding.

Hillsboro, Marion and Peabody are under a severe thunderstorm warning through 11:45 p.m. A flash flood warning has been issued for McPherson County through 3:30 a.m., encouraging people to move to higher ground and avoid floodwaters.

New local storm reports via NWS show hail measuring 2.75 inches was reported at 8:50 p.m. in McPherson. At around 9:53 p.m., flooding was reported on county roads about 5 miles south of town, with ditches running full.

At around 9:07 p.m., a brief tornado was reported to NWS near Hill City. New, delayed reports showed a brief tornado southwest of Hays at around 1:47 p.m., and another twister near Schoenchen at around 2:58 p.m.

Evergy reports show power has been restored at the primary outage in Salina. But as of 11 p.m., there were 67 total outages affecting 2,131 customers across the system.

Update, 8 p.m.

An ongoing power outage in part of Salina was caused by severe weather.

A National Weather Service report at 7:33 p.m. showed wind damage: “A tree that was blown down took out power in the north part of town.”

Evergy’s outage map shows 2,008 customers are without power as part of a single incident affecting part of the city, including areas along I-135. Estimated power restoration was listed as 8:30 p.m. The map showed 10 total outages reported in Salina as of 8 p.m., affecting 2,022 customers.

Near Cedar Bluffs in northwest Kansas, a spotter reported to NWS that a tornado briefly touched down around 6:42 p.m. Clouds in the area continued to rotate rapidly. A few miles north of Lyons, at around 6:54 p.m., 1.75-inch hail and heavy rain were reported.

Update, 6:45 p.m.

More tornadoes have been reported in Kansas as meteorologists say severe storms are likely to continue.

National Weather Service local storm reports show at least one tornado touched down briefly north of Claflin around 5 p.m.

There were multiple reports to the weather service between 5:19 p.m. and 5:47 p.m. of tornadoes north of Atwood, Ludell and Herndon near the Kansas-Nebraska border. It is unclear how many twisters touched down. The first tornado was reported by an off-duty NWS employee.

Hail in the area ranged from penny to quarter size, with occasional stones the size of golf balls, according to a report from the Traer area.

In Ellis County, flash flooding was reported at 5:19 p.m. with water running over roads between Hays and Munjor.

Flooding has been reported on U.S. Highway 40 near Russell. A mile north of town, a 40-foot tall and 3-foot wide elm tree was blown over by thunderstorm winds.

NWS Wichita reports that severe weather is likely across central Kansas tonight with lower chances over southern Kansas and farther east. Through the overnight hours, threats include 60-80 mph winds, up to tennis ball sized hail, a few tornadoes and very heavy rainfall with possible flooding.

The greatest risk area is generally north and west of a line running from Medicine Lodge to Hutchinson to McPherson to Manhattan. Areas south and east are at a lower risk, including Wichita, Emporia and Topeka.

Update, 4:45 p.m.

Much of western and parts of central Kansas are under an NWS tornado watch until 2 a.m.

“This is a particularly dangerous situation,” the NWS advisory states. “Several strong tornadoes likely. Widespread hail up to softball size likely. Scattered (wind) gusts up to 75 mph likely.”

The NWS Storm Predication Center said a tornado watch has been issued for parts of central Kansas, including Salina, Hutchinson and McPherson. The watch lasts through 9 p.m.

NWS Wichita, in a hazardous weather outlook released at 4:28 p.m., said storms will likely develop over southwest Kansas and move eastward during the evening. Additionally, storms developing over southwest Nebraska will track southeast into Kansas. Severe storms through the evening may bring torrential rainfall, in addition to the other hazards.

Update, 4:15 p.m.

National Weather Service forecasters continue to predict severe weather in parts of northern Kansas.

The NWS Topeka office reported that as of 4 p.m., radar indicated isolated severe storms. The thunderstorms will be capable of producing large hail, damaging winds, tornadoes and heavy rainfall in north-central Kansas through 6 p.m. Additional severe weather is likely later tonight.

The Dodge City NWS office said storms south of I-70 could produce up to 2-inch sized hail and heavy rain through 6 p.m. There may also be an isolated tornado. A tornado warning continues for Ellis County through 4:30 p.m., and lime-sized hail is possible.

The NWS Wichita office issued a tornado warning for parts of Barton and Russell counties through 5 p.m. In addition to a possible tornado, hail stones may be up to the size of golf balls. In a wide swath of Kansas northwest of Wichita, tornadoes, damaging wind and hail the size of baseballs will be possible through 6 p.m.

Local storm reports from the weather service showed a 70 mph wind gust recorded 3 miles southeast of Russell at around 4:04 p.m.

Original story, 3:30 p.m.

Tornadoes and large hail have been reported in the Hays area as severe storms move across northern Kansas.

Local storm reports from the National Weather Service show 2.75-inch hail was reported at around 2:08 p.m. in Hays. Five miles south of Goodland, 2.5-inch hail was reported at around 10:18 a.m. At around 11:52 a.m., 10 miles north of Brewster, hail stones between the size of golf balls and tennis balls broke the windshield of a storm chaser’s vehicle.

A tornado was reported at around 3:03 p.m. in Ellis County about five miles northeast of Pfeifer. The twister had numerous reports from spotters and was confirmed by video, according to weather service reports. Multiple spotters reported a tornado again at around 3:22 p.m. near Munjor, but it is unclear whether there were two separate twisters

Flash flooding was reported in the town of Ellis at around 2:12 p.m., closing streets and stranding vehicles, according to NWS.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This story was originally published May 26, 2021 at 3:27 PM.