Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Hastings, NE

May 5, 2002Smith County, Kansas

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at May 5, 2002, 4:45 PM CDT for Smith County, Kansas. It was in force for 45 min. 2 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 5, 2002, 4:45 PM CDT (21:45 UTC)
Expired: May 5, 2002, 5:30 PM CDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Hastings, NE
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Smith County, KS

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:48 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, 5:10 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Reamsville, KS	A short lived tornado occurred in northern Smith county.
May 5, 5:20 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Thornburg, KS	Another short lived tornado in northern Smith county.

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

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 202 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: 172 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -207 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 655 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 169 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 156 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KGID 052145
TORGRI
KSC183-052230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
445 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN SMITH COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 530 PM CDT

* AT 443 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 12 MILES NORTH OF KENSINGTON...OR ABOUT 12 MILES
  SOUTH OF FRANKLIN...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN OVER RURAL AREAS OF NORTHERN SMITH
COUNTY THROUGH 530 PM CDT.

PEOPLE IN NORTHERN SMITH COUNTY SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY IN A
BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.

THIS REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY BUILDING. AS A
LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD
WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 3999 9904 3976 9904 3976 9853 3999 9854

NNNN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Hastings, NE issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 5, 4:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Rooks	54 min
May 5, 4:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Phillips	64 min
May 5, 4:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Smith	39 min
May 5, 4:43 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GID	Rooks	47 min
May 5, 5:11 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GID	Osborne	49 min
May 5, 5:31 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GID	Smith	44 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.