It rained big, white pieces of ice in parts of Cowley County?Saturday morning – hail so large that it shattered windshields, pounded cars, broke windows in homes and some businesses and knocked large holes in vinyl siding on several modular homes.
“There was significant hail damage in New Salem, the (Winfield City) lake area, Floral, Burden and Dexter,” Jana?McDade, assistant emergency coordinator for Cowley County Emergency Management, said. “Two homes in Floral lost windows and some homes in New Salemn lost windows. Campers at the lake had damage and it broke out the windows in the lake office and marina.”
Reports from northern and eastern Cowley County included pea to marble-size and golfball to softball-size hail.?Emergency Manager Coordinator Brian Stone found a hail stone in one ditch that measured 4 3/4 inches in diameter – the size of a grapefruit.
Justin Lauppe, a volunteer spotter for?Emergency Management, said he first went out to spot about 4:15 a.m. Saturday but the first storm had already passed through the east end of the county by the time he got to Dexter from Winfield.
A second storm swept through Udall, the Winfield City Lake, Burden and New? Salem. Lauppe was at U.S. 160 and Cowley 19, west of Cambridge, when golfball-size hail hit.?The hail storm lasted between 15 and 20 minutes.
Lauppe was dispatched to survey damage at the city lake while Stone and another veteran spotter, Dan McClaskey, surveyed the damage at? Burden. McClaskey actually lives in Burden and was standing on his front porch when the first hail began to fall. He estimated it began as nickel and quarter-size, grew quickly to?golfball-size,?and lasted 20 to 30 minutes.
“I had 100 percent coverage over my yard,” McClaskey said. “Quite a few vehicles in town got damaged. Two modular homes with vinyl siding looked like somebody took a hammer and started knocking holes in it. A Class A Motor coach had all the skylights broken out. I know a lot of roofs were damaged.”
One Cambridge firefighter who was out spotting between Cambridge and Dexter on Grouse Creek Road got hit by baseball-size hail and has the dents on his truck to prove it. McClaskey said he experienced 60 mile an hour winds in Burden that didn’t last long before the large hail hit.
“The crops took a hit. There was a lot of crop damage, We was looking really good here. Somebody’s corn field west of Burden was beat to death,’ he said. “As much spotting as I’ve done, I haven’t got near as much damage to my vehicles as they did sitting in my driveway.”
Depends on who was doing the talking as to how much rain Burden received but McClaskey narrowed it down to 2.5 inches.
There was a little more rain Saturday night. Arlan Anglemyer, an official weather observer for the National Weather Service, reported 1.38 inches at 8 a.m. Saturday and .66 inches about the same time Sunday. The total weekly rainfall reported on ?May 30 was 3.34 inches.
Arkansas City missed the rain and hail Saturday morning, Bob Frazee, Ark City’s Emergency Manager, said. However, 2.69 inches of rain fell Sunday morning over a two hour period.
“We had our story last Monday night. We didn’t have damage from the wind or nothing but that one produced a lot of flooding around town. Sixth and Lincoln has been closed but was to open Monday morning,” Frazee said. “An area around? C? Street, north of the Middle? School, was closed for several hours Sunday due to water. These places normally flood.”
The city was planning to open the storm water gates on the Walnut (River) today and probably the ones on the Arkansas River tomorrow to prevent flooding, he said.
The county was in and out of a number of different types of watches and warnings over the weekend, including those warning of flash flooding. The Arkansas River at Oxford stood at 12.1 feet at 7 a.m. today – flood stage is 17 feet. In?Ark City, the river was at 15.15 feet at 8. m. – flood stage is 17 feet.
The Walnut River in Winfield was at 9.76 inches at 8 a.m. today – flood stage is 18 feet. The river had dropped to 11.09 feet at 6 a.m. today in Ark City – flood stage is 18 feet.
A slight chance of thunderstorms pops up in almost every forecast through the week. McDade said the chance for severe weather is a little more serious on Tuesday and again on?Thursday.
The potential for a severe weather outbreak is increasing for Thursday afternoon and evening as a powerful upper level disturbance and associated strong cold front blasts across south central Kansas. Spotter activation is likely Thursday afternoon and night area wide, according to the weather service.
