06/13/2026
UPDATE: Saturday, June 13, 2026 - 10:28AM
Just a brief update from last night's report.
The area of moderate storm risk for this afternoon / evening has been expanded and storms are expected to begin in Woodson County sometime around 6:00PM - 8:00PM.
ORIGINAL POST: Friday, June 12, 2026 - 11:17PM
⚠️ WOODSON COUNTY WEATHER HEADS UP ⚠️
Alright folks...
Tomorrow is Birdies and Bluegrass in Yates Center, the Sons of Pitches Co****le LLC Toronto Lake Bash Co****le Tournament at Blackjack Campground in Cross Timbers State Park, and apparently also the day the atmosphere decided to show up wearing a Hawaiian shirt, cargo shorts, white New Balances, and the kind of confidence normally only seen in a man backing a boat trailer down the ramp for the first time.
So let’s talk about Saturday weather in Woodson County.
The National Weather Service has placed Woodson County in a Flood Watch from late tonight through Sunday morning.
That does NOT mean everyone needs to start building an ark out of cattle panels, old pallet wood, and the good extension cord nobody is supposed to use.
For us, the flooding concern is mainly the usual Woodson County stuff:
🌊 Low-water crossings
🌊 Creek bottoms
🌊 Any of the Wonderful Roads of Woodson County that Todd has recently worked on
🌊 That one spot everyone already knows about but still drives into because “it didn’t look that deep from the road”
Rainfall totals of 2 to 4 inches are possible, with locally higher amounts possible.
That is enough rain to make a ditch feel important.
It is also enough rain to turn a low-water crossing into a very fast and effective IQ test.
Timing for Woodson County currently looks like this:
⛈ Late tonight into Saturday morning:
A few storms are possible, mainly after about 3:00 AM.
⛈ Saturday afternoon:
Storm chances increase again, especially after about 4:00 PM.
⛈ Saturday evening into Saturday night:
This appears to be the main window we need everyone paying attention to.
⛈ Overnight Saturday night:
Rain and storms may continue, but current forecast information for Yates Center has the main batch moving through before about 2:00 AM Sunday.
In plain English:
Saturday morning through early afternoon may be damp but tolerable.
Saturday evening is where we need everybody to quit rolling the weather dice while depending on nothing but good vibes, old knee pain, and a “I can usually smell rain coming, so I'll be fine” attitude.
Hazards for Woodson County may include:
💨 Damaging straight-line winds, possibly 60-80 MPH in stronger storms
🧊 Large hail, possibly up to golf ball size
☔️ Heavy rainfall
🌊 Localized flooding, especially low-water crossings and poor drainage areas
🌪 A lower-confidence, but still possible, tornado threat
Now let’s talk about the obvious problem.
Tomorrow is Birdies & Bluegrass.
For those who are new here, Birdies & Bluegrass is our annual Friends for Life fundraiser where Woodson County gathers together, supports an incredible local cancer charity, and collectively agrees that financial responsibility can just sit quietly in the truck until Monday.
It is a beautiful event.
It is a great cause.
It is also the only night of the year where a perfectly reasonable person can spend several hundred dollars on what they believe is a decorative fan, only to later realize it is actually a circle of welded hand-saws that is functionally less like home decor and more like something from a low-budget horror movie.
It is the kind of event where a person can buy an antique grinding wheel so heavy it requires a full logistics section, three spotters, two ibuprofen bottles, and a mutual aid request for a flatbed and a chiropractor.
And somehow, after all of that, everyone still walks out proud because cancer picked the wrong county to mess with!
The dinner, auction, and concert have already been moved indoors to the 4-H Community Building and will begin at 5:30 PM.
That was absolutely the right call.
The golf tournament is still weather-dependent.
And since we’re talking about golf...
🏌️ If the golf tournament happens, keep an eye on the sky.
🏌️ If thunder starts, get off the course.
🏌️ Make sure you pack your tactical all-weather muumuu in your golf bag, just in case a news crew stops by.
🏌️ If lightning is close, do not stand in an open field holding a metal stick while wearing shoes with spikes in them and assume your lucky Busch Light visor is going to handle the science.
Also, yes...
There may be a local Emergency Manager with a documented history of delivering cocktails to golfers that are mixed somewhere between “wow, that packs a punch” and “why is my golf cart making eye contact with me?”
Consumption of said cocktails will almost certainly LOWER your ability to make good decisions, so please pace yourself.
Remember, alcohol is flammable and we have it on good authority that a direct lighting strike to a cup of that fire water carries the same explosive potential as a fully loaded B-29.
And before anyone gasps, clutches their pearls, and whispers, "You mean he bartends too?!"
Fear not.
I always wash my hands.
Especially when juggling multiple "pots" for our community.
Anyway, after round three nobody needs to be standing beside a golf cart (ha ha, like you would be standing at that point) squinting at radar saying:
“I think the purple part is probably fine.”
No.
The purple part is absolutely NOT fine.
The purple part is NEVER fine.
And if the radar starts looking like someone spilled a snow cone machine across southeast Kansas, it is time to find a person who has not been taste-testing the local EM beverage program since hole four.
Please assign one weather adult.
Preferably one who can still pronounce “mesocyclone” without sounding like they’re trying to order lunch at Vaqueros Mexican Restaurant in Gerardo’s native tongue.
That person watches the alerts.
That person makes the decisions.
That person tells the group when it is time to stop golfing, stop debating whether the storm is “going around us,” and stop trying to finish the hole because somebody is finally having the best round of their life on a day when the sky looks like a bruise wearing eyeliner.
Now, over at Toronto Lake...
The Sons of Pitches Toronto Lake Bash Co****le Tournament is scheduled at Blackjack Campground.
And folks...
Co****le.
Campground.
Lake.
Coolers.
Pop-up tents.
Saturday severe weather setup.
That is not an event description.
That is the introduction to a seminar at next year's Kansas Emergency Management Conference.
Please have a plan before the weather gets there.
Have you met the new owners of Getty's?
Before the sky totally lets loose, that might be a great time to drop by, say hello, support a local business, and maybe relocate yourself from “standing beside a lake holding a bean bag in the wind” to “indoors where the roof has made better life choices.”
Do not wait until the canopy starts doing gymnastics.
Do not wait until someone’s folding chair leaves the campsite like it just got accepted to Pittsburg State.
Do not wait until the drunkest guy in the group points at the sky and says:
“That one don’t look too bad.”
That man has also probably said “hold my beer” right before grabbing the pull-start handle of some random foot-removing implement and kicking his Crocs into "off-road" mode.
Do not make him your incident commander.
If you are at Toronto Lake tomorrow:
🏕 Know where you will shelter if a warning is issued
⛺️ Secure tents, canopies, coolers, flags, chairs, tables, co****le boards, banners, and anything else light enough to become a missile with cupholders
🌳 Do not shelter under trees
🌊 Get away from the water if storms approach
🚗 Do not drive through water over the road
📱 Make sure somebody in your group is receiving weather alerts
🍺 Pick a weather adult before everyone starts making decisions with their cooler lid open
And yes, drinking is part of the day for a lot of people.
That’s fine.
Have fun.
Raise money.
Throw bags.
Bid on stuff.
Tip your bartender.
But please do not drink yourself into a condition where your severe weather plan becomes:
“I’ll just follow whoever is yelling.”
Before tomorrow evening, take a few minutes to:
📻 Make sure weather alerts are turned on
🔋 Charge phones, flashlights, radios, and battery packs
🚗 Move vehicles under cover if you can
🏕 Tie down or put away outdoor items
🐕 Bring pets somewhere safe before the weather gets loud
🍺 Pick one sober-ish person per group to be in charge of weather alerts
🌊 Stay out of flooded low-water crossings
Support Friends For Life.
Enjoy Birdies & Bluegrass.
Have fun at the lake.
Cheer for the Sons of Pitches.
Spend stupid money for a great charity, because cancer sucks!
Just don’t let tomorrow’s weather catch you standing outside with a cocktail in one hand, a golf club in the other, and absolutely no plan beyond “we’ll probably be fine.”
