Storms bring rain to much of the area
6/15/2009
TIM UNRUH
On radar it appeared a tornado could dip out of the clouds over northern McPherson County.
A “very large storm” moved through the area early Monday morning, said Ken Cook, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Wichita.
Damage occurred from a “very serious, potentially dangerous” storm cell, said Dillard Webster, McPherson County Emergency Management director, but it wasn’t a tornado.
The northern half of the county was placed in a tornado warning between 2 and 2:30 Monday morning. Sirens sounded in Lindsborg, sending folks to basements and other shelters.
When the sun rose, Webster found evidence about 11/2 miles southwest of Marquette, of a “channeled microburst,” a burst of wind that goes straight down, reaching speeds up to 90 mph. The bursts can be up to 200 yards wide, he said.
The winds damaged a couple of grain bins; and hail, reportedly up to the size of golf balls, damaged wheat in the northwest corner of the county.
For more on weather in the area, read reporter Tim Unruh's story in Tuesday's Salina Journal.
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