Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 44, NWS Hastings, NE
NWS Hastings, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 2002, 8:01 PM CDT for Phillips County, Smith County, Kansas. It was in force for 59 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 15, 2002, 8:01 PM CDT (01:01 UTC)
- Expired
- May 15, 2002, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 59 min
- Issued by
- NWS Hastings, NE
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
Counties Phillips County, KS, Smith County, KS
The radar
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:04 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 15, 8:30 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Athol, KS |
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.
Did it verify
Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.
Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.
The nearest sounding before it
N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 213 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 444 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -117 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2279 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 3 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 90 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS53 KGID 160101 SVRGRI KSC147-183-160200- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 801 PM CDT WED MAY 15 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... EASTERN PHILLIPS COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS SMITH COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS * UNTIL 900 PM CDT * AT 758 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM SMITH CENTER TO ATHOL...OR FROM 31 MILES EAST OF PHILLIPSBURG TO 19 MILES EAST OF PHILLIPSBURG... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. * SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR... BELLAIRE AT 815 PM CDT LEBANON AT 830 PM CDT PEOPLE IN EASTERN PHILLIPS AND SMITH COUNTIES SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY STRUCTURE AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT IS LARGE HAIL THE SIZE OF DIMES. LAT...LON 3962 9855 3959 9933 3999 9925 3997 9853 NNNN
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 15, 2:10 PM CDT, 5 hours 51 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 15, 2:10 PM CDT, 5 hours 51 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 210 PM CDT WED MAY 15 2002 SHRTWVS OUT OF TROF EXTENDING FM SCNTRL CANADA ACRS THE SALT LAKE AND OVR BAJA WL DEFINE THE PRIMARY PROBLEM OF THE DAY. SMALL CLUSTER OF -TSRA FORMED NR THE KS/NEB BRDR EARLY THIS AFTN...APPARENTLY ON TAIL END OF IMPULSE SPPRTG MORE WIDESPREAD ACTIVITY OVR THE OAX CWA. EXPECT A BRIEF BREAK THIS EVE WITH SHRTWV RIDGING AS PER 18Z LAPS DPVA AND MID LVL HT TRENDS...BUT WL MONITOR FOR FINAL ZFP WORDING. WEAK CDFNT HAS SLOLY PROGRESSED ACRS THE NRN GID CWA TDA IN WAKE OF AFORE MENTIONED XG SHRTWV. BNDRY IS EXPECTED TO HANG OVR NCNTRL KS/SERN NEB BY EVE WITH UPSLOPE FLOW DVLPG AS LOW DPNS OVR WRN KS. SPPRTG SHRTWV DUE TO X NRN KS OVRNGT/EARLY MRNG. 50+KT LLVL JET ETA PROGGED TO CONVRG MSTR NR AND N OF THE BNDRY WITH MDL SNDINGS INDG MODERATE INSTABILITY FM AN ELEVATED LIFT. WL BUMP POPS TO LIKELY CATEGORY OVR THE SRN CWA AND MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS FOR TIMING INTO THE EARLY 2ND PD...FOLLOWED BY SHRTWV RIDGE SUPPRESSION IN THE AFTN. NXT SIGNIFICANT IMPULSE EXPECTED LATE THU NGT...WL ADJUST FOR THAT TIMING AS MDLS ARE IN GENL AGRMT. MSTR WITH THAT WAVE SHOULD BE CONFINED TO THE MID LVLS WITH FRONT PROGRESSION SWD...AND WITH INSTABILITY AND LAPSE RATES CURRENTLY PROGGED TO BE LACKING...WL SCALE BACK POPS AND T MENTION FOR THE 3RD PD WITH CHC NMBRS FOR SRN CWA ONLY. WL NOT CHANGE DRY EXTENDED WITH BLOCKING PTN/HIGH AMPLITUDE RIDGE OVR THE CNTRL CONUS. MID WEEK FMR TEMP NBRS LK TOO LOW SO WL MAINTAIN THE ONGOING WARM PROGNOSIS WITH MINOR ADJUSTMENTS ONLY. .GID...NONE. 09
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 15, 5:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 1 minute before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-152300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 500 PM CDT WED MAY 15 2002 ...SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED ACROSS PARTS OF SOUTH-CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH-CENTRAL KANSAS TONIGHT... A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL COME TO THE AREA TONIGHT...WITH A FRONTAL BOUNDARY POSITIONED NORTHEAST TO SOUTHWEST ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. WITH MOISTURE RETURNING INTO SOUTH AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE REGION THIS EVENING...AND MODERATE INSTABILITY ALREADY IN PLACE ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS AND PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP OR MOVE INTO THE AREA MAY PRODUCE MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL OR WIND TONIGHT...MOST LIKELY AFTER 9 PM. THE MAIN RISK AREA IS IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS...ALTHOUGH SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA LOCATIONS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80 AND EAST OF HIGHWAY 281 COULD SEE A SEVERE STORM. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS AND SPOTTER GROUPS...ESPECIALLY THOSE IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS...SHOULD MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Hastings, NE issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 8:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Smith | 62 min |
| May 15, 9:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Jewell | 59 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 2002Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.