photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World
A downed tree that fell into a Lawrence home near Fifth and Maine streets is pictured on May 19, 2026.
UPDATED 12:45 P.M. MAY 19
Storms that stretched across eastern Kansas on Monday night produced rain, high winds and some tornado warnings the region.
Locally, there were several reports of wind damage following Monday night’s severe storms, which according to a personal weather station monitored by the National Weather Service, included 85 miles-per-hour winds.
The National Weather Service Office in Topeka has been gathering weather data from its service region after Monday’s storms, and Kyle Poage, a meteorologist with the NWS, said the personal weather station was located four miles southwest of downtown Lawrence.
The total rainfall on Monday evening ranged from one-tenth of an inch to half an inch in Lawrence, Poage said. The NWS received no hail reports for the Lawrence area.
While damage reports in Lawrence have not been widespread there were some obvious signs of problems left in the storm’s wake.
A home in the Pinkney neighborhood just north of Fifth and Maine streets was damaged after a large tree fell into the house. Crews on Tuesday morning already were on scene to begin removing storm debris.
photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World
A snapped tree in the 400 block of Maine Street is pictured on May, 19, 2026.
photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World
Signs of storm damage are pictured on May 19, 2026 in the 400 block of Maine Street in central Lawrence.
Lawrence also suffered power outages during the storm. According to a press release from Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, response crews responded to more than 20 weather-related incidents beginning around 8:45 p.m. on Monday.
“The majority of the incidents were electrical in nature,” the release said.
A portion of North Lawrence, generally north of Lyon Street, was without power for an extended period on Monday night and Tuesday morning. The Journal-World’s offices in the I-70 Business Center were without power from about 9:30 p.m Monday to at least 3 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
The power outage did impact some elements of the Tuesday print edition of the Journal-World. The Tuesday edition of the Journal-World doesn’t include the normal variety of puzzles, as those items were lost during the power outage and couldn’t be quickly retrieved before the newspaper’s print deadline. Wednesday’s edition will include the answers to Sunday’s puzzles and will include the normal offerings of puzzles.
