The mid-to-late evening hours of Memorial Day 2011 brought a fairly widespread round of strong to severe winds to much of North Central Kansas, as a narrow, intense line of storms marched from west to east across the majority of the six-county area.  Along nearly the entire length of this northeast-southwest oriented squall line were estimated or measured wind gusts of 60-70 MPH, with a home weather station near Webber in Jewell County recording the highest known measured gust of 72 MPH. Other measured wind gusts included 69 MPH at the Smith Center airport, and 58 MPH at the Phillipsburg airport. Although specific reports of damage were limited, there was likely at least minor tree and power line damage in parts of the area. Along with the winds, there were also a few reports of quarter size hail.
Focusing on timing, the initial severe storm development along the squall line took place to the north across central and south central Nebraska during the late afternoon and early evening hours. The line of storms eventually built south into Kansas as it moved east, first affecting Phillips and Rooks Counties between 8 and 9 PM CDT, and eventually exiting Jewell and Mitchell Counties between 1130 PM and 1230 AM CDT.
The synoptic and mesoscale environment was certainly ripe for a damaging, linear wind event. Earlier in the day, a strong pressure gradient brought hours of sustained 30-40 MPH winds and frequent gusts of 45-50 MPH to North Central Kansas, as a 994 millibar surface low pressure system organized near the Colorado-Kansas border. Aloft, a powerful, negatively tilted upper level trough centered across the Central and Northern Rockies gradually ejected northeast toward the Northern Plains, allowing considerable large scale forcing and increasing wind fields to overspread northern Kansas, including 60-70 knot southwesterly flow at 500 millibars. Lower in the atmosphere, southerly low-level jet winds at 850 millibars increased to around 60 knots. At the surface, a pronounced cold front sliced through the area, providing sharp linear forcing for development of the squall line. Mesoscale severe weather parameters at mid-evening included mixed layer CAPE values around 2500 J/kg, and deep-layer vertical wind shear of at least 40-60 knots. As the evening wore on, 0-1 kilometer low-level bulk shear ramped up to notably strong values of 40-50 knots, providing a very favorable environment for damaging winds.

Thunderstorm Wind in MITCHELL, KANSAS
From 30-MAY-11 21:49:00 to 30-MAY-11 21:49:00 (CST-6)
Location: TIPTON
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Wind gusts were estimated at 60 MPH.

Thunderstorm Wind in JEWELL, KANSAS
From 30-MAY-11 21:37:00 to 30-MAY-11 21:37:00 (CST-6)
Location: WEBBER
Magnitude: 63.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Broadcast Media

Wind gust was measured from a home weather station.

Thunderstorm Wind in JEWELL, KANSAS
From 30-MAY-11 21:10:00 to 30-MAY-11 21:10:00 (CST-6)
Location: BURR OAK
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Wind gusts were estimated at 60 MPH.

Thunderstorm Wind in SMITH, KANSAS
From 30-MAY-11 20:53:00 to 30-MAY-11 20:53:00 (CST-6)
Location: SMITH CENTER ARPT
Magnitude: 60.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: AWOS

Hail in OSBORNE, KANSAS
From 30-MAY-11 20:44:00 to 30-MAY-11 20:44:00 (CST-6)
Location: ALTON
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Thunderstorm Wind in PHILLIPS, KANSAS
From 30-MAY-11 19:58:00 to 30-MAY-11 19:58:00 (CST-6)
Location: PHILLIPSBURG ARPT
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: AWOS

Hail in JEWELL, KANSAS
From 30-MAY-11 21:09:00 to 30-MAY-11 21:09:00 (CST-6)
Location: ESBON
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter