Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Wichita, KS

May 5, 2002Ellsworth County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 5, 2002, 7:23 PM CDT for Ellsworth County, Kansas. It was in force for 67 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 5, 2002, 7:23 PM CDT (00:23 UTC)
Expired: May 5, 2002, 8:30 PM CDT
In force: 67 min
Issued by: NWS Wichita, KS
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Ellsworth County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 145 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:22 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, 7:40 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Black Wolf, KS	Brief event that occurred in the 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.

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, 5:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 184 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: 2199 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1272 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 207 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.9
Supercell composite: 9.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KICT 060023
TORICT
KSC053-060130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
723 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN ELLSWORTH COUNTY IN CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 830 PM CDT

* AT 723 PM CDT...LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED A TORNADO 3     
  MILES WEST OF DORRANCE. RADAR SHOWED   THIS TORNADIC STORM MOVING  
  EAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE
  7 MILES NORTH OF ELLSWORTH AROUND 750 PM CDT...

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. MOVE INTO YOUR TORNADO SHELTER NOW

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

REPEATING...A TORNADO WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ELLSWORTH COUNTY
UNTIL 830 PM CDT.

LAT...LON 3884 9841 3872 9842 3874 9799 3885 9800

/CHANCE
&

NNNN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 5, 7:13 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Lincoln	62 min
May 5, 7:19 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Saline	56 min
May 5, 8:17 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Saline	58 min
May 5, 8:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Barton	67 min
May 6, 5:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	McPherson	59 min
May 6, 5:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Marion	66 min
May 6, 6:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	McPherson	56 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.