Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 331, NWS Wichita, KS

August 12, 2002Reno County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 12, 2002, 9:05 PM CDT for Reno County, Kansas. It was in force for 55 min. 4 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
Aug 12, 2002, 9:05 PM CDT (02:05 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 2002, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
55 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), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:05 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
Aug 12, 9:17 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 70 ENickerson, KSWidespread tree and power line damage. Power outages town-wide. See 2028 CST entry for summary of the most significant damage.
Aug 12, 9:20 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 70 ENickerson, KSTrees and power lines downed.
Aug 12, 9:28 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 87 ENickerson, KSSpeeds ranged from 70-87kts, inflicting widespread tree and power line damage. The following were destroyed: One single-family home, three mobile homes, and a shed that was scattered amongst a grove of trees. The following sustained major damage: Two single-fa
Aug 12, 10:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 65 EHutchinson, KSOccurred at intersection of Highway 50/K-96. Nearby, 26 empty Union Pacific freight cars, of which 24 were covered hoppers and two were auto-carriers, were blown off a siding. Two mobile homes were destroyed. Three single-family homes (of which one was unroofe

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
Aug 12, 3:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lamont, OK (KLMN), launched 00:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 168 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, Lamont, OK at 00:00Z on 2002-08-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3086 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, Lamont, OK at 00:00Z on 2002-08-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 50 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
3086 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1535 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
167 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
13.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

836 
WUUS53 KICT 130205
SVRICT
KSC155-130300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
905 PM CDT MON AUG 12 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1000 PM CDT.

* AT 905 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES SOUTHEAST OF STERLING...OR ABOUT 15
  MILES NORTHWEST OF HUTCHINSON...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE
  NEAR NICKERSON AROUND 910 PM CDT...
  NEAR HUTCHINSON AROUND 930 PM CDT...
  7 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BUHLER AROUND 940 PM CDT...
  7 MILES NORTHEAST OF HAVEN AROUND 955 PM CDT...

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
  HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS...
  DAMAGING WINDS OF 70 TO 80 MILES AN HOUR...
  VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...WHICH MAY CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING...

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.

REPEATING...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR RENO
COUNTY UNTIL 1000 PM CDT.

LAT...LON 3817 9815 3811 9826 3778 9771 3815 9771

/COX

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 7:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTEllsworth62 min
Aug 12, 7:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRice59 min
Aug 12, 8:22 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTRice6 hr
Aug 12, 8:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRice64 min
Aug 12, 8:48 PM CDTTornado WarningICTRice27 min
Aug 12, 9:10 PM CDTTornado WarningICTRice35 min
Aug 12, 9:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMcPherson64 min
Aug 12, 9:31 PM CDTTornado WarningICTReno59 min
Aug 12, 10:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTKingman61 min
Aug 12, 10:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTHarvey, Sedgwick84 min
Aug 12, 10:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTReno33 min
Aug 12, 10:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSumner67 min
Aug 12, 11:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTButler83 min
Aug 12, 11:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTReno59 min
Aug 12, 11:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTEllsworth56 min
Aug 13, 12:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSumner30 min
Aug 13, 12:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTCowley84 min
Aug 13, 12:50 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTEllsworth, Rice6 hr
Aug 13, 1:48 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTReno6 hr
Aug 13, 6:54 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTRice5 hr
Aug 13, 7:56 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTReno6 hr

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.