Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Dodge City, KS

May 5, 2002Ellis County, Trego County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at May 5, 2002, 4:33 PM CDT for Ellis County, Trego County, Kansas. It was in force for 12 min. 1 report 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 5, 2002, 4:33 PM CDT (21:33 UTC)
Expired: May 5, 2002, 4:45 PM CDT
In force: 12 min
Issued by: NWS Dodge City, KS
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Ellis County, KS, Trego County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 151 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:36 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 5, 4:50 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Zurich, KS	A tornado was just north of the Rooks/Ellis county line. It was on the ground at the same time as another tornado was occurring just to the south in northern Ellis county. No damage was reported.

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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 5, 2:45 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 149 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 282 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -438 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1423 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 77 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KDDC 052133
TORDDC
KSC051-195-052145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
432 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN ELLIS COUNTY IN CENTRAL KANSAS
  NORTHEASTERN TREGO COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 445 PM CDT

* AT 432 PM CDT DODGE CITY DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING
  TORNADO OVER TREGO COUNTY...OR ABOUT 10 MILES NORTH OF RIGA. THIS
  DANGEROUS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

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.

LAT...LON 3907 9974 3905 9951 3914 9937 3913 9971

KRUSE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 4, 7:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Barber, Pratt	66 min
May 4, 7:32 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DDC	Barber	43 min
May 4, 8:10 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DDC	Barber	50 min
May 5, 3:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Lane	65 min
May 5, 3:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Ellis	43 min
May 5, 3:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Trego	54 min
May 5, 3:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Ness	56 min
May 5, 4:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Ellis	46 min
May 5, 4:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Trego	63 min
May 5, 4:43 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DDC	Ness, Trego	47 min
May 5, 5:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Ellis	58 min
May 5, 5:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Gray	35 min
May 5, 5:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Hodgeman	61 min
May 5, 5:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Ellis	46 min
May 5, 6:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Hodgeman	49 min

Nearby

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