Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 159, NWS Wichita, KS

May 11, 2002Reno County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 11, 2002, 6:24 PM CDT for Reno County, Kansas. It was in force for 66 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 11, 2002, 6:24 PM CDT (23:24 UTC)
Expired: May 11, 2002, 7:30 PM CDT
In force: 66 min
Issued by: NWS Wichita, KS
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Reno County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:28 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 11, 6:25 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Sylvia, KS	Remained in the country.
May 11, 6:25 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Sylvia, KS	Breif touchdown in open country.

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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 11, 2:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 152 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: 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 
WUUS53 KICT 112324
SVRICT
KSC155-120030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
624 PM CDT SAT MAY 11 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  RENO COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT.

* AT 623 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  A LARGE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF STAFFORD...OR     
  ABOUT 11 MILES EAST OF ST. JOHN...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE
  NEAR SYLVIA AROUND 630 PM CDT...
  NEAR NICKERSON AROUND 710 PM CDT...
  6 MILES NORTH OF SOUTH HUTCHINSON AROUND 720 PM CDT...
  NEAR HUTCHINSON AROUND 725 PM CDT...

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
  DAMAGING HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS...
  WINDS UP TO 60 MILES AN HOUR...

FOR YOUR PROTECTION...MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF
YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. LEAVE AUTOMOBILES AND MOBILE HOMES FOR SAFER
SHELTER.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. SEVERE 
THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE 
WARNING.

REPEATING...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR RENO
COUNTY UNTIL 730 PM CDT.

LAT...LON 3814 9847 3790 9849 3797 9780 3817 9781

/WOLF

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 Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 11, 5:44 PM CDT, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 11, 5:44 PM CDT, 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
544 PM CDT SAT MAY 11 2002

MESOSCALE UPDATE...

LTST PROFILES SHOW LLVL WNDS CONTINUING TO VEER E OF I-135. THE
STORMS HAVE DECREASED...MOST LKLY IN RESPONSE TO THIS AND SLGTLY
COOLER SFC TEMPS.  HOWEVER OVER THE LAST 3 HRS...LLVL WND PROFILE
HAS SGFNTLY BACK AT HAVILNALD...WITH CORRESPONDING INCRS IN TSTMS TO
THE W.  BELIEVE AREA ALG S OF GBD-MCP LINE AND WEST OF HWY 14...HAVE
GRTST POTNL FOR SVR TSTMS...WITH HIEST CAPES...AND WARMEST SFC
TEMPS.  IN ADDITION KICT 88D REFLECTIVITY SHOWS ORIENTATION OF
HORIZONTAL CONVECTIVE ROLLS BACKING AHD OF STG STMS JUST W OF FCST
AREAS. IN ADDITION 12Z ETA SUG INCRG UPR DIFFLUENCE ACRS THE ARE
BTWN 00-03Z.

.ICT...
KS...FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING FOR ERN PART OF CNTRL
KS...THE FLINT HILLS...AND SERN KS
ZONES KSZ049...KSZ051>053...KSZ069>072...KSZ093>096...KSZ098>100.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 11, 3:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Lincoln	60 min
May 11, 3:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Lincoln	65 min
May 11, 3:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Barton	64 min
May 11, 4:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Barton	41 min
May 11, 4:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Ellsworth	66 min
May 11, 4:27 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Lincoln	33 min
May 11, 4:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Ellsworth	46 min
May 11, 4:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Rice	39 min
May 11, 4:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Saline	38 min
May 11, 5:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Ellsworth	60 min
May 11, 6:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Rice	58 min
May 11, 6:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	McPherson	56 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 2002 Every 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.