Compared to typical daylight events, the batch of strong to severe storms that shoved through this six-county North Central Kansas area on this Friday afternoon got going sooner and also ended earlier than usual. Already by noon CDT, strong thunderstorms were underway in Phillips County along a cold front advancing southeast through the region. Over the course of the next few hours convection increased in coverage and intensity as it marched across most of North Central Kansas, primarily producing sporadic wind damage and brief, torrential rainfall. Along the way, a few of the more notable storm reports included: estimated 70 MPH winds south of Alton accompanied by nickel size hail and over 2 of rain in a short time leading to localized flash flooding; measured severe-criteria wind gusts of 78 MPH in Beloit, 63 MPH at Simpson and 60 MPH near Jewell. Between 3-4 p.m. CDT, the main batch of strong to severe storms steadily departed the local area to the east and southeast, ending the severe weather threat for the day. Shortly thereafter, additional storms briefly flared up over Mitchell County but produced only heavy rain, and the entire six-county area was storm-free for the day by 6:30 p.m. CDT. Rainfall-wise, the majority of this North Central Kansas area tallied between 0.50-2.00, with slightly higher amounts focused within southwestern Phillips, central Osborne and southern and eastern Mitchell counties, where brief flooding issues were most prevalent.
By mid-August standards, the surface cold front that sparked this event was reasonably-strong, featuring gusty north winds in its wake and steadily-falling dewpoints. Just ahead of the front during the early-mid afternoon, surface temperatures climbed into the 80s F with dewpoints into the mid-upper 60s, fostering appreciable mixed-layer CAPE of at least 2000 J/kg. Deep layer wind shear was fairly modest at around 30 knots, resulting in a predominant multicell/quasi-linear storm mode. In the mid-upper levels, the primary instigator was a low-amplitude shortwave trough kicking eastward out of the Central High Plains in quasi-zonal flow aloft, downstream from a stronger disturbance dropping southeast through MT/WY.

Thunderstorm Wind in JEWELL, KANSAS
From 19-AUG-16 13:43:00 to 19-AUG-16 13:43:00 (CST-6)
Location: JEWELL
Magnitude: 52.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

This report came from an automated Kansas Mesonet site at 10 meters off of the ground.

Thunderstorm Wind in MITCHELL, KANSAS
From 19-AUG-16 14:09:00 to 19-AUG-16 14:09:00 (CST-6)
Location: SIMPSON
Magnitude: 55.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

This wind gust was recorded on a personal weather station.

Hail in OSBORNE, KANSAS
From 19-AUG-16 12:37:00 to 19-AUG-16 12:37:00 (CST-6)
Location: ALTON
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

An unofficial observation of at least 1.5 inches of rain occurred in the hour leading up to the hail report.

Hail in OSBORNE, KANSAS
From 19-AUG-16 13:06:00 to 19-AUG-16 13:06:00 (CST-6)
Location: COVERT
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

A mix of dime to nickel size hail occurred.

Thunderstorm Wind in MITCHELL, KANSAS
From 19-AUG-16 13:50:00 to 19-AUG-16 13:50:00 (CST-6)
Location: BELOIT
Magnitude: 68.00 MG
Property damage: 4.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

This wind gust was recorded on a private weather station at a fertilizer plant southeast of downtown Beloit. The exact time of the wind gust is unknown as the peak wind gust occurred between five minute observations, and was estimated using radar data.

Thunderstorm Wind in OSBORNE, KANSAS
From 19-AUG-16 12:40:00 to 19-AUG-16 12:40:00 (CST-6)
Location: ALTON
Magnitude: 61.00 EG
Property damage: 4.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

One power pole was snapped due to thunderstorm wind gusts estimated around 70 MPH.  Severe wind gusts directly preceded the rain, as it blew all loose vegetation out of the pastures into the north-south oriented fences.

Flash Flood in OSBORNE, KANSAS
From 19-AUG-16 12:40:00 to 19-AUG-16 16:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: BLOOMINGTON
Flood cause: Heavy Rain
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

An unofficial total of 2.6 inches of rain fell very quickly about 10 miles south of Alton within a span of an hour. Water was over the road in all low areas and roads were damaged. A road tube was washed out in one draw, and rock was washed off the roads in a three mile section, eight miles south of Alton.