Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Kansas City, MO

May 8, 2002Leavenworth County, Kansas

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2002, 6:31 PM CDT for Leavenworth County, Kansas. It was in force for 44 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 8, 2002, 6:31 PM CDT (23:31 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 2002, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Kansas City, MO
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Leavenworth County, KS

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:34 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 8, 6:43 PM CDTTornado F0Lansing, KSBrief tornado touchdown which cause some light damage to a farmstead.

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 8, 5:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 52 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2002-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 50 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2002-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 522 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
50 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-814 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1189 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
522 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
829 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KEAX 082333
TORMCI
MOC175-090000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
630 PM CDT WED MAY 8 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PLEASANT HILL HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN RANDOLPH COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL MISSOURI

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT

* AT 629 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THIS DANGEROUS
  STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR MOBERLY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. LARGE
  HAIL AND DESTRUCTIVE THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE ALSO LIKELY WITH THIS
  STORM.

* THIS TORNADIC STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   CAIRO BY 635 PM CDT.

WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED BASED ON DOPPLER RADAR...IT MEANS
THAT STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY
ALREADY BE ON THE GROUND...OR IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SHORTLY. IF YOU
ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...MOVE INDOORS AND TO THE
LOWEST LEVEL OF THE BUILDING. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF DRIVING...DO
NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER A HIGHWAY OVERPASS.

LAT...LON 3960 9232 3940 9232 3936 9250 3942 9255
          3952 9256

PB

The office that day

Everything else NWS Kansas City, MO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 6:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXLeavenworth56 min
May 8, 6:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXJohnson, Miami55 min
May 8, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXWyandotte62 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.