Two small clusters of severe thunderstorms rolled from northwest-to-southeast across parts of this six-county North Central Kansas area on this Thursday evening, giving rise to several reports of primarily damaging winds within especially the southwest half of Rooks County, but also in Jewell County. In southern/western Rooks County, winds of at least 70-75 MPH rolled through 9-10 p.m. CDT, causing at least minor wind damage in several towns including: Plainville, Damar, Palco, Zurich and Codell. In Plainville, intense winds inflicted fairly extensive tree damage and toppled all but the bottom section of a county communications tower. Five miles south of Plainville, a semi truck was blown over. At nearly the same time as the Rooks County action, a completely separate cluster of severe storms rumbled through Jewell County, with limited reports including estimated 60-65 MPH winds at Burr Oak and a large tree downed at the courthouse in Mankato.
Taking a closer look at storm evolution within the area, and starting with Rooks County, this intense supercell cluster initiated nearly 150 miles northwest of the area (in southwest Nebraska) during the mid-afternoon. After first tracking more southward in Nebraska as an at-times tornadic storm, it made more of an eastward turn over northwest Kansas, becoming increasingly outflow-dominant as it raced through Rooks County on its way into central Kansas. Meanwhile, the severe multicell cluster that impacted Jewell County initiated just north of the state line in far south central Nebraska around 8:30 p.m. CDT before crossing into Kansas. Actually, both the Rooks and Jewell County storm clusters partially-merged together over Osborne/Mitchell counties before completely departing the local area, but those counties yielded no severe weather reports. The entire local area was storm-free by around 11 p.m. CDT. Turning to the meteorological setup, this event had fairly decent forcing by August standards, especially in the lower levels. Aloft, west-northwesterly flow was in place, with a low-amplitude shortwave trough approaching North Central Kansas from the CO/NE/WY border area. At the surface, the main player was a slow-moving, west-east oriented cold front sinking slowly southward from Nebraska into northern Kansas. Along and ahead of this surface boundary the airmass was very unstable, with dewpoints in the low-mid 70s. As storms infiltrated the local area, the mesoscale environment featured a decent combo of 2000-4000 J/kg mixed-layer CAPE and 35 knots of effective deep-layer wind shear.

Thunderstorm Wind in ROOKS, KANSAS
From 29-AUG-19 20:19:00 to 29-AUG-19 20:24:00 (CST-6)
Location: PLAINVILLE
Magnitude: 62.00 MG
Property damage: 500.00K
Crop damage: 1.00M
Reported by: Mesonet

A 71 MPH wind gust was measured by a mesonet site located near Plainville. Emergency management and media confirmed considerable tree damage in Plainville, along with a roof blown off of a former lumberyard and all but the bottom section of a county communications tower toppled to the ground. Three transformers were struck by lightning and power lines were downed. An NWS cooperative observer located 4 miles west-northwest of Plainville reported multiple tree limbs downed and chimney damage to their home. A semi-truck was blown over approximately 5 miles south of Plainville.

Thunderstorm Wind in ROOKS, KANSAS
From 29-AUG-19 20:09:00 to 29-AUG-19 20:18:00 (CST-6)
Location: ZURICH
Magnitude: 70.00 EG
Property damage: 150.00K
Crop damage: 500.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Law enforcement estimated wind gusts to be between 70 and 80 MPH. Emergency management reported power lines down in and around Zurich. A garage was destroyed 2 miles east of Zurich.

Thunderstorm Wind in ROOKS, KANSAS
From 29-AUG-19 20:37:00 to 29-AUG-19 20:37:00 (CST-6)
Location: CODELL
Magnitude: 61.00 EG
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 250.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Wind gusts estimated to be near 70 MPH resulted in some downed power lines.

Thunderstorm Wind in ROOKS, KANSAS
From 29-AUG-19 20:00:00 to 29-AUG-19 20:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: DAMAR
Magnitude: 61.00 EG
Property damage: 50.00K
Crop damage: 250.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Wind gusts estimated to be near 70 MPH resulted in some downed power lines.

Thunderstorm Wind in ROOKS, KANSAS
From 29-AUG-19 20:05:00 to 29-AUG-19 20:05:00 (CST-6)
Location: PALCO
Magnitude: 61.00 EG
Property damage: 50.00K
Crop damage: 250.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Wind gusts estimated to be near 70 MPH resulted in some downed power lines.

Thunderstorm Wind in JEWELL, KANSAS
From 29-AUG-19 20:05:00 to 29-AUG-19 20:05:00 (CST-6)
Location: BURR OAK
Magnitude: 56.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

Wind gusts were estimated to be near 65 MPH, with 4-6 inch diameter tree limbs down.

Thunderstorm Wind in JEWELL, KANSAS
From 29-AUG-19 20:18:00 to 29-AUG-19 20:18:00 (CST-6)
Location: MANKATO
Magnitude: 56.00 EG
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Wind gusts estimated to be near 65 MPH resulted in some tree damage in Mankato, including one large tree downed at the county courthouse.

Thunderstorm Wind in JEWELL, KANSAS
From 29-AUG-19 20:25:00 to 29-AUG-19 20:25:00 (CST-6)
Location: JEWELL
Magnitude: 53.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A 61 MPH wind gust was measured by a mesonet station located 3 miles west-northwest of Jewell.

Thunderstorm Wind in JEWELL, KANSAS
From 29-AUG-19 20:49:00 to 29-AUG-19 20:49:00 (CST-6)
Location: RANDALL
Magnitude: 52.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

A 60 MPH wind gust was measured by a mesonet station located in Randall.