Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Dodge City, KS

May 11, 2002Pratt County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at May 11, 2002, 6:13 PM CDT for Pratt County, Kansas. It was in force for 32 min. 3 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 11, 2002, 6:13 PM CDT (23:13 UTC)
Expired
May 11, 2002, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Pratt County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:14 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 11, 6:15 PM CDTTornado F0Cullison, KSThis was a brief tornado (not a gustnado).
May 11, 6:25 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 70 EPratt, KS
May 11, 6:30 PM CDTTornado F0Pratt, KSThis was a brief tornado (not a gustnado).

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 11, 2:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 99 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2002-05-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1296 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2002-05-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 494 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1296 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-195 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
719 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
494 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
564 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WFUS53 KDDC 112313
TORDDC
KSC151-112345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
613 PM CDT SAT MAY 11 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL PRATT COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 645 PM CDT

* AT 613 PM CDT DODGE CITY DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A RAPIDLY ROTATING
  THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO OVER CULLISON...OR
  ABOUT 10 MILES EAST OF HAVILAND...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  PRATT AT 625 PM CDT
  CAIRO AT 640 PM CDT

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. MOVE INTO YOUR TORNADO SHELTER NOW IF NO
UNDERGROUND SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...MOVE INTO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY STRUCTURE. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. ABANDON
MOBILE HOMES...WHICH OFFER NO PROTECTION FROM A TORNADO. IF YOU ARE
CAUGHT OUTSIDE...MOVE TO A STURDY BUILDING OR UNDERGROUND SHELTER. AS
A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH...CULVERT OR LOW SPOT AND
COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 3771 9901 3753 9900 3752 9847 3773 9847

JOHNSON

The office that day

Everything else NWS Dodge City, KS issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 11, 1:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCGrant, Haskell46 min
May 11, 1:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney, Gray51 min
May 11, 3:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCGray, Meade46 min
May 11, 3:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFord, Hodgeman42 min
May 11, 4:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEdwards, Pawnee45 min
May 11, 4:24 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCEdwards, Pawnee36 min
May 11, 5:01 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCEdwards, Pawnee29 min
May 11, 5:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCStafford51 min
May 11, 5:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEdwards47 min
May 11, 5:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCKiowa46 min
May 11, 5:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCClark, Meade55 min
May 11, 5:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCPratt, Stafford63 min
May 11, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCStafford30 min
May 11, 6:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCClark, Meade40 min
May 11, 6:06 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCStafford24 min
May 11, 6:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCStafford37 min
May 11, 6:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCStafford34 min
May 11, 6:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCClark, Ford, Meade, Seward64 min
May 11, 6:47 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCPratt28 min
May 11, 6:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEdwards, Kiowa65 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes in 2002

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.