A severe storm outbreak on Monday June 8 turned violent over Salina, where the Salina Airport measured a 113 mph gust that, if it holds, would stand as the strongest wind ever recorded there. The same storms knocked out power to around 35,000 residents of Saline County and left trees and structures damaged across the city.
That is why Evergy outages were being searched so heavily on Monday night: the loss of electricity was immediate, broad and tied to a wind event measured at extreme speed. Brittany Curtis was about to leave Walmart in Salina when the storm came through, a reminder that the damage was unfolding in real time while people were still trying to get home.
The system developed over north central Kansas in the early evening and moved southeast into central and northeast Kansas as damaging straight-line winds followed its path. Nearby readings showed just how intense the storm was, with a 111 mph gust recorded from an anemometer near Gypsum and a 98 mph gust measured near Smolan, while Lindsborg reported extensive tree damage and city-wide power loss.
The one question that still matters for the people who lost power is how long the outage lasted, and that answer is not in the record here. What is clear is that the 113 mph reading at the Salina Airport was strong enough to define the storm locally, and the next phase was not more wind but the slower work of getting electricity back on.
