Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 98, NWS Wichita, KS

May 6, 2002McPherson County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 6, 2002, 6:34 PM CDT for McPherson County, Kansas. It was in force for 56 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 6, 2002, 6:34 PM CDT (23:34 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 2002, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

County McPherson County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:37 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 6, 7:15 PM CDTHail 0.75Roxbury, 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 6, 5:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 187 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 2002-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1767 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 2002-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 421 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
1767 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-131 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
578 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
421 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
579 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.6
Supercell composite
34.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS53 KICT 062334
SVRICT
KSC113-070030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
634 PM CDT MON MAY 6 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  MCPHERSON COUNTY IN CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT.

* AT 634 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTH OF MCPHERSON...OR ABOUT 25 MILES
  SOUTH OF SALINA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE
  NEAR GALVA AROUND 645 PM CDT...
  7 MILES NORTH OF CANTON AROUND 655 PM CDT...
  NEAR ROXBURY AROUND 700 PM CDT...

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


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
MCPHERSON COUNTY UNTIL 730 PM CDT.

/COX

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 7:13 PM CDTTornado WarningICTLincoln62 min
May 5, 7:19 PM CDTTornado WarningICTSaline56 min
May 5, 7:23 PM CDTTornado WarningICTEllsworth67 min
May 5, 8:17 PM CDTTornado WarningICTSaline58 min
May 5, 8:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTBarton67 min
May 6, 5:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMcPherson59 min
May 6, 5:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMarion66 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.