7-3-'05 Weather, Kansans check in please!

Windy in Kansas · #1 07/03/05, 07:07 PM

shawnee, other Kansans, how did you fare the weather today?

Did you get softball sized hail, baseball sized, golfball sized, any?

Tornado or strong wind damage????

The tornado warning sirens went off in Hutchinson, but as is often the case the wall cloud and rotation area turned slightly SE about the time the storm got to Partridge, then sent the storm toward Wichita instead of here. We received 1½" of rain quickly and it doesn't done yet from the indication by the lightning and thunder.

I haven't heard of widespread damage by wind/tornado, only scattered reports of roof damage, etc. Hail damage seems more widespread and concentrated in the Great Bend and Rush County area.

Oklahoma, Missouri, maybe Arkansas you might get the remmanants of this storm unless it weakens.

Edited to add a lightning link. Here is a link that gives the lightning strikes within the last minute. The site is out of central Kansas. http://ham.rwisp.com/zap.html

akmyilee · #2 07/03/05, 07:30 PM

wow, I didn't know that ya'll had gotten it today. I need to call my Mom and Grandma they are in Winfield (just south of Wichita).........thanks for letting em know...... I hope that all is well at your place. Btw, my cousins live in Hutch and I am going to be back there in a couple of weeks, can't wait

emke · #3 07/03/05, 11:00 PM

My husband is working a job in Kansas City. When we talked right before I got Online, he said it was lightening and raining buckets. His motel is on the MO side, but the job is in the KS side.

In AR we aren't suppose to get it until tomorrow night at fireworks time.

Windy in Kansas · #4 07/03/05, 11:56 PM

I flipped television channels a little while ago and the storms have put 3 Wichita channels out of 7 off of the air.

News reports at 10:00 p.m. indicated that there were some 80-90 mph winds, with some thoughts some were as high as 100 mph.

A rope tornado swept through Cheney State Park and skipped across the lake. With the accompanying winds they wrecked havoc on campers and boaters. Only five reported injuries. Several campers blown over, boats overturned on shore, limbs down on campers, a houseboat overturned, and a number of boats swamped or capsized. A dock appears totally destroyed.

There are three still unaccounted for at the park, but officials are hopeful that they simply got blown across the lake and are having trouble finding their way back to their campsite. Cheney is a pretty fair sized lake so it might be difficult to find their way back in the dark.

Windy in Kansas · #5 07/04/05, 08:32 AM

How does your garden grow?

I don't have much of anything out. I'm working two jobs again this year and didn't expect to have time to tend on. As it turned out I managed to talk the weed department director into hiring someone to do the mosquito fogging, so I'm not having to work as many hours as I did last year.

The mosquitoes have been terrible here this year. What started out as a dry spring didn't prevent them one bit. We had a hot windy dry spell that slowed up the complaints somewhat. We got 2.10" of rain last night so they willl soon be in full force once again.

Unlike your short cool growing season we do have a wonderfully long one. We still have nearly 100 days left before frost. Once the soil dries I may put out a fall garden. I've never had one before, but I understand they do wonderful if you can get past a couple of hot weeks of July. FYI, at our current soil temps turnips are supposed to germinate and emerge in 1 day. Expect kohlrabi would be about the same and it is some good eating, well so are turnips in my opinion.

Windy in Kansas · #6 07/04/05, 08:34 AM

How does your garden grow?

I don't have much of anything out. I'm working two jobs again this year and didn't expect to have time to tend on. As it turned out I managed to talk the weed department director into hiring someone to do the mosquito fogging, so I'm not having to work as many hours as I did last year.

The mosquitoes have been terrible here this year. What started out as a dry spring didn't prevent them one bit. We had a hot windy dry spell that slowed up the complaints somewhat. We got 2.10" of rain last night so they willl soon be in full force once again.

Unlike your short cool growing season we do have a wonderfully long one. We still have nearly 100 days left before frost. Once the soil dries I may put out a fall garden. I've never had one before, but I understand they do wonderful if you can get past a couple of hot weeks of July. FYI, at our current soil temps turnips are supposed to germinate and emerge in 1 day. Expect kohlrabi would be about the same and it is some good eating, well so are turnips in my opinion.

Glad your hail wasn't worse. When conditions suddenly get quite still it is no doubt the calm before the storm.

shawnee · #7 07/04/05, 09:55 AM

Yeah, my daughter and I went over the speed limit to make it to Great Bend before the storm hit. Got caught on the flats there north of G.B. near Barton College by the wind and had to slow down to 80. Cop behind (we didn't know he was there) passed us like we were standing still. Daughter in awe! Made it to my mother's house and helped my brothers put her in wheelchair in bathroom - they don't have a basement. Sent daughter to old next door neighbors - her basement was full of kids from Larned there to buy 4th firecrackers that knew her. THEY had a great time. Got 2" once and plenty of small hail in town; kept raining and lightning like crazy rest of afternoon into evening. Sky was so busy with rotation you couldn't help but stand at window (like dummies) and watch. We made it home last night around 8:30 before it hit G.B. again; but had to dodge lightning and BOOMING thunder to make it to house with groceries. Husband said he got trapped in metal building (again) when it stormed there the first time. Hailed like crazy but very small - south of us had golfball/baseball hail. Corn is OK, so is garden and hoop houses. Nothing to hit there but Cheyenne Bottoms and poor "visiting" birds. Maybe it will settle down for 4th. I have spent several 4th's in basement before though. Ness City really needed rain; husband delivered oil there and said they hadn't had a decent rain all spring and it was burned terrible there. They surely got it yesterday! Hope no one was at Cheney Lake; tore it up something fierce from what I heard. We don't camp in summer at lake. On rare occassions we do go there it is usually very close to fall and cooler. I'm a storm worrier as husband hasn't sense to come out of rain. Wish all a great and QUIET 4th (weather wise that is)!

shawnee · #8 07/04/05, 10:05 AM

Windy, I plant rutabagas and kohlrabi instead of turnips; I like the taste much, much better. I'd have to by starving to eat turnips - too strong a taste for me! I also get a great crop of spinach in of course beets. When I have time I start short season cabbage plants now - I was able to actually save l head from last yr.; I wanted to grow own seed and I DID! It works - I tried to save 3 heads (roots and all) but no go - just got one but there'll be plenty of seed. I plant shorter season carrots, too and cover with plastic and hay bales; I have carrots whenever I want in winter - I had no time for them this spring. I can usually get a good last growth of short season fresh beans, too. I flash freeze them and put them in freezer bags - don't snap them or anything. Plan to dehydrate some pears from our single pear tree this fall - they're loaded. I try to learn something new firsthand each year. Dehydrated tomatoes were great last year - made salad dressing with olive oil and vinegar with them. Daughter wants to dry blackberries this year "like Laura Ingalls" - probably find time to do that. Have never dried fresh apples in rings before - that might be "interesting". There reaally are quite a few things you can put in a fall garden. Fresh kale and swiss chard doesn't hurt, either.

bgak47 · #9 07/04/05, 10:52 AM

I got a Bunch of blown down tree limbs... big ones.

moldy · #10 07/04/05, 10:50 PM

I'm located close to Wichita - beat the storm to work, but had to move patients into the halls when the tornados started being reported around Colwich. The storm was weaker when it got into town. No damage at our house, but had a tree knocked down up the road that we had to move. I didn't even lose any peaches off my tree! Thanks for the idea of dried blackberries, Shawnee. I might have to try that, too.

mightybooboo · #11 07/05/05, 12:10 AM

Wow!

Tana Mc · #12 07/05/05, 12:48 AM

Like dummies, we didn't check the weather before heading out to the lake to watch the fire works on Sunday night. We got about half way there and my hubby called us on the cell phone and told us to "stay near the van" because of approaching thunderstorms. We sat out on the shore and waited for it to get dark enough for the show --- and got much more show than we bargained for!!
The lightening was truely magnificient and the wind changed directions, got harder and then dropped rapidly in temperature. They did set off some fireworks but we were too busy watching the weather to enjoy them. I felt really sorry for the guy out in the boat setting off the fireworks as it got really rough and he was blown waaaay off course. We loaded up and got out of there before the rain started. Still the wind was fierce!
We only got an inch of rain but it will take me days to round up all of the stuff that blew all over the farm.
Tana Mc

**Terri** · #13 07/06/05, 05:25 PM

The lightning really WAS impressive, wasn't it?

We got zero wind damage, but due to lightning we lost both power and phones. The power was soon on (AAHHHH air conditioning!) but we just now got phones up again. No phones for us means no internet: it is good to be back on line!

Still, if we MUST lose power, I prefer we do it in the summer with the longer days. I can't really complain.

Cat · #14 07/06/05, 06:03 PM

We just drove up I35 from the OK border yesterday and couldn't believe at the water south of Wichita!! Several places the water was darn near to the interstate. When you see something like that you realize how the flood on the turnpike could have happened. Thankfully once we got closer to home we had less water and no flooding that I could see, and thankfully even though we had a few storms out this way none of my birds was lost. We did have to ride out a thunderstorm in GC under a canopy for about 30 minutes so that my brother's new Toyota didn't get dinged!! lol