Butler County, Kansas Emergency Management

Butler County, Kansas Emergency Management We are a local government agency responsible for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.

Nothing much has changed since the last update.…except that now our local forecasters have added a mention of brief torn...
06/20/2026

Nothing much has changed since the last update.

…except that now our local forecasters have added a mention of brief tornadoes (but primarily for central/north-central KS).
…except that an odd severe storm could randomly pop up early, in the middle of the afternoon (but mostly north of Hwy 56).
…except that now there is concern for flooding (but primarily for areas north/northeast of us where they’ve inserted a Flood Watch).

So, yeah. For us, nothing much has changed.

Fortunately, today’s primary target has pretty much stayed put, keeping the biggest impacts north of us. By the time storms get to us tonight (if they do stray this far south), they may be primarily carrying damaging wind gusts and heavy rainfall. The threat for large hail and brief twisters should diminish as storms move out of the Enhanced (3/5) area.

Looking ahead, forecasters still think there is a chance that storms could redevelop in southern KS tomorrow afternoon/evening (in honor of Father’s Day) and drop more heavy rainfall, along with a little wind and hail. But the firing line (and the big fish?) could also skip out of Kansas and set up south of the state line.

(Final thought… so much for Mother Nature “leaving us alone” on Friday. That’s broken trust, M.N. Broken trust.)

She’s just not nice. Mother Nature saw it was Father’s Day weekend and decided she had to try to make it all about her....
06/19/2026

She’s just not nice. Mother Nature saw it was Father’s Day weekend and decided she had to try to make it all about her. Typical.

She’s keeping her word (so far) about not messing with us today. But the weekend is a different story. Not only is she still planning to send severe storms our way on Saturday, but the threat level and possible intensity level of those storms has notched up (goody). A new 3/5 target has blossomed over northwestern and north central Kansas, and the 2/5 has shifted over us. Storms that develop in the bullseye tomorrow afternoon should roll toward us by that night (and maybe into the next morning), packing damaging winds, larger hail, and heavy rainfall. The local NWS isn't talking about it much, but the Storm Prediction Center has also tossed in a tornado threat (primarily in the 3/5 area).

And M.N. is starting to figure out what she wants to do on the actual day of Father’s Day… and it apparently involves us, storms, and a fish? (wait, no… not a fish). There’s a new severe target that just got posted, and we’re in the middle of it (of course). Saturday’s front may linger in the area on Sunday and spark some fresh stormy activity Sunday afternoon (she’s still sorting out the details).

The only kind thing she’s done is to throw a number of cooler days into the outlook. So that’s something…

In a strange turn of events that no one could have seen coming, Mother Nature actually did exactly what she said she was...
06/18/2026

In a strange turn of events that no one could have seen coming, Mother Nature actually did exactly what she said she was going to do (sending morning storms across southern KS). Does that mean she has turned over a new leaf and is suddenly trustworthy. Well… no. Probably not.

The next test of Mother Nature’s deception level is on its way already. After today, she SAYS that she’s not going to send us any more severe weather until the weekend. A few showers could pop up on Friday night, but they should bring the kind of pitter-pattering that doesn’t disrupt our sleep. She then says she’s going to stir up severe storms in northwestern Kansas on Saturday afternoon and slide them our way that night. These could bring damaging wind gusts and heavy rainfall. And then… well, Mother Nature says that she has no idea what she’s doing next. Because her Saturday activities could have a significant impact on Sunday’s atmosphere, forecasters don’t have a lot of confidence yet in the Father’s Day outlook (but it could maybe, possibly include some storms… somewhere).

In the meantime, showers and t-storms could continue to pop up throughout the day today, and they could drop some hail and heavy rainfall (trust her).

Our Summer Weather Bonanza Day has arrived! Today’s line-up includes stifling warmth, swampy heat indices, gusty Kansas ...
06/17/2026

Our Summer Weather Bonanza Day has arrived! Today’s line-up includes stifling warmth, swampy heat indices, gusty Kansas winds, and a chance for severe thunderstorms. About the only thing that we’re missing is a little freezing fog or a nice snow squall (but don’t give Mother Nature any ideas). Severe storms are still expected to pop up initially in Missouri (so keep an eye on that eastern horizon) and then back-up into southeast Kansas around 4-6 pm. These storms may be carrying large hail, damaging winds, and heavy rainfall. After they wander back out of Kansas (after 10pm?), the skies will go quiet… but it probably won’t last. Mother Nature is expected to brew up a second round of thunderstorms overnight. They may appear across southern Kansas very late into the night or sometime before dawn… and these will probably be carrying more of that large hail. They also may not be in a hurry to leave and could hang around the area into the early afternoon on Thursday.

If you look closely at today’s target, you can see that Butler County is still straddling some of the outer rings of the bullseye (the ugly center of it is still way over in the IL/IN area). Of the two rounds, we currently have a better chance of getting wet with tomorrow morning’s activity… but still pay attention to the sky tonight.

After this, things should calm down again for a couple of days, but forecasters are suspicious that M.N. may be brewing up more trouble for the Father’s Day weekend. To be continued…

*Notice of Revoked Promises* We found out that Mother Nature is making a sneaky attempt to take back her promise of a s...
06/16/2026

*Notice of Revoked Promises*

We found out that Mother Nature is making a sneaky attempt to take back her promise of a storm-free Tuesday. We’re not sure how successful she’ll be, but the Storm Prediction Center did slide a “Marginal” threat area over us. Some strong-to-marginally-severe storms could pop up this afternoon and evening – most likely over southeast Kansas, but not 100% ruled-out here.

Wednesday’s forecast is also fluctuating… and oddly enough, it actually fluctuated in our favor. (Well, so far anyway… and just the storms part. The triple-digit temps and heat indices are still on the table). The ugliest part of the severe weather target (especially the ugly tornado target) has wandered clear off into Illinois, and we’re now barely clipped by the Slight (2/5) risk area. Storms in our area are still expected to fire in Missouri first (afternoon) and then fill in back to the west (later afternoon/evening)… especially in the corner of the state east of the Turnpike. Once they get here, they could brew up severe-level wind and hail. Oh, and by the way… these storms may also decide not to leave. They could still be hanging around southern Kansas in the morning, and they could still be capable of severe-level hail at that point (Mother Nature’s “Good Morning!”).

Today and tomorrow will be nice – mostly sunny skies with highs staying in the 80s. It’s going to seem like Mother Natur...
06/15/2026

Today and tomorrow will be nice – mostly sunny skies with highs staying in the 80s. It’s going to seem like Mother Nature’s mood has finally improved. This is what is known as false advertising.

On Wednesday, she’s back to her normal spicy self. First she’ll throw the heat at us – temps will hit the upper 90s (or higher) and heat indices will soar into the triple digits. Then, she’ll start dabbling with dark clouds again. T-storms are predicted to erupt in Missouri during the afternoon and then try to sprawl backwards into Kansas during the evening. The environment is forecasted to be ripe for significant severe weather that day… but the NWS thinks the “significant” part will focus on Missouri (the only “significant” we want to see is “significantly nice” weather).

Some of the showers and t-storms could linger into Thursday morning, but then M.N. is back to "behaving" again. (But probably only briefly – she just can't pull that off for long. More storms could be possible again by the weekend. Surprise.)

It's taken a bit, but we've finally been added to the thunderstorm group chat. The NWS just extended the area covered by...
06/13/2026

It's taken a bit, but we've finally been added to the thunderstorm group chat. The NWS just extended the area covered by Severe Thunderstorm Watch #329 and tucked ours and several neighboring counties into it. The line is creeping closer to us and it's expected to bring damaging winds and large hail stones...

Plan A was to host a few marginal storms last night and scrub today’s severe storm fuel out of our atmosphere. That one ...
06/13/2026

Plan A was to host a few marginal storms last night and scrub today’s severe storm fuel out of our atmosphere. That one didn’t pan out.

Plan B was to go ahead with today’s severe storm potential as discussed yesterday. Well, we’re not entirely doing that either.

Mother Nature went with Plan B.1. We’re still apparently doing severe storms today, but she moved our county fully into the Enhanced (3/5) center of the bullseye (wow… thanks). Storms are predicted to fire up initially in central Kansas, possibly closer to the 4-5pm timeframe. They’ll then start trekking southeast toward us. Our turn to host them should be in the 6-11pm window. By the time they get here (specifically east of the Turnpike), they are expected to primarily be producing large hail and very damaging winds (up to 80 mph), with a side of heavy rainfall (the tornado window is supposed to be fairly early on and fairly limited). Oh, and before the storms arrive, Mother Nature plans to make things very swampy and steamy, with highs in the 90s and a heat index of around 100 degrees. Just a lovely Saturday in June.

We plan to file a formal complaint with Mother Nature Corp. Her representatives very clearly said that she was leaving ...
06/12/2026

We plan to file a formal complaint with Mother Nature Corp. Her representatives very clearly said that she was leaving us alone today… but now there’s a portion of southern Kansas that could see some spill-over storms from a new target area out west. And if she tries to claim that those don’t count, because they wouldn’t arrive until overnight…. well, potentially interrupting our sleep does NOT count as a day of rest. Not at all.

So then there is Saturday. We knew she wasn’t going to leave us alone on Saturday, and storm chances are definitely on the rise. The eastern side of the state is expected to have a nice, ripe and unstable atmosphere, so severe storms could start bubbling already in the afternoon. The “hottest” part of the target is currently over far eastern Kansas (the Enhanced 3/5 zone), but we are definitely at risk of seeing some hefty hail stones and damaging winds. (As a side note, the trigger for these storms will be a strong cold front that will actually bring cooler air. Sunday and Monday may only top out in the 70s.)

So, after Saturday’s ruckus.. THEN Mother Nature is going to leave us alone for a couple of days (maybe).

So far, today’s target is keeping its distance from us…. Forecasters believe severe t-storms will bubble up rapidly by t...
06/11/2026

So far, today’s target is keeping its distance from us…. Forecasters believe severe t-storms will bubble up rapidly by the late afternoon, but they are also expecting that prime atmosphere to be over SE Kansas. Our skies are predicted to be largely clear today (as well as a tad breezy… you may have already noticed that part). The other good news is that the temperatures are going to drop below the “Broil” setting today. Our temps and heat index may top out at a mere 90 degrees (grab a jacket!). Mother Nature is still planning to be somewhere else on Friday, but she’ll be right back in Kansas on Saturday (we’ve now got a Slight or 2/5 target on us). If you have afternoon or evening plans that day, you may have a dark cloud or two tagging along… (more info to come).

Address

2100 Ohio Street Ste B
Augusta, KS
67010

Telephone

+13167339796

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