Hail storms and strong winds give this county the worst weather in Kansas, report says
Sedgwick County might have the worst weather in all of Kansas, according to a new report from digital data journalism outlet Stacker.com.
In its analysis, Stacker suggests a high number of severe weather events in the state’s second-most populous county make it the worst in Kansas.
“Hailstorms strike Sedgwick County, Kansas, an average of three times per month,” the report reads. “Hailstones the size of half-dollars and some as big as 4 inches were reported in a storm in late March 2020 that lasted about an hour in an area of 1,670 square miles with 23,000 buildings.”
Sedgwick County observed roughly 611 severe weather events between 2010 and 2020, averaging out to about 55.5 such events each year. According to the analysis, fueled in part by severe weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the most commonly observed events were hail (36.5 events per year), followed by thunderstorms with strong winds (27.5 per year) and flash floods (6.8 per year).
The county’s total number of severe weather events sits toward the middle of the pack compared to the rest of the country’s most-afflicted counties, Stacker’s report suggests. No county experienced more severe weather events than El Paso County in Colorado, which observed more than 900 reported severe weather events between 2010 and 2020. High elevation there helps fuel frequent hail storms in the spring and summer, the report claims.
You can read Stacker’s full analysis for each state by visiting stacker.com/weather/county-most-severe-weather-every-state.
Sedgwick County’s severe weather
Between June 2022 and June 2023, Sedgwick County observed at least 104 severe weather events, according to NOAA’s Storm Events Database. More recent data is not yet available, the agency says.
Most of these events were characterized as thunderstorms with strong winds, while other instances describe heavy rains, hail and floods. Less common severe weather events for the county include severe winter storms and drought conditions.
So far in 2023, the Wichita area is on pace for a below-average year of precipitation, according to the National Weather Service. The area has observed about 19.25 inches of precipitation as of Sept. 19, falling well short of an average year’s 27.9 inches of recorded precipitation. The Wichita area’s record came in 2008 when more than 47 inches of precipitation fell by mid-September, according to NWS archive data.
In June a NWS forecaster told The Eagle while some rain was expected this summer, it would likely not amount to enough to result in “significant change” to the drought status in the state.
This fall, much of Kansas is observing drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. In the agency’s most recent drought map, released Sept. 14, Sedgwick County is primarily characterized as experiencing a “severe drought,” while some areas in the eastern regions of the county observe “extreme drought” conditions.
Note: This graphic will automatically update as new data becomes available.
Conserving water and keeping your garden healthy during a drought are not mutually exclusive, The Eagle found earlier this year. Some key tips include watering before 10 a.m., skipping at-home car washes and keeping your lawn cut higher than usual to enhance root development.
%202.JPG)