Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 18, NWS Wichita, KS
NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 5, 2002, 8:17 PM CDT for Saline County, Kansas. It was in force for 58 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, 8:17 PM CDT (01:17 UTC)
- Expired
- May 5, 2002, 9:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wichita, KS
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Saline County, KS
The radar
The Topeka radar (KTWX), 135 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:19 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, 8:26 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Glendale, KS | |
| May 5, 8:40 PM CDT | Hail 0.88 | Hedville, 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 5:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 186 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1298 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -86 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1520 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 42 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 88 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 2.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS53 KICT 060117 TORICT KSC169-060215- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 817 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SALINE COUNTY IN CENTRAL KANSAS * UNTIL 915 PM CDT * AT 817 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 22 MILES WEST OF SALINA... OR 8 MILES NORTH OF KANOPOLIS...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR BROOKVILLE AROUND 825 PM CDT... NEAR SMOLAN AROUND 845 PM CDT... NEAR SALINA AROUND 850 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 SALINE COUNTY UNTIL 915 PM CDT. LAT...LON 3894 9790 3870 9794 3869 9754 3897 9763 /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, 7:23 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Ellsworth | 67 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, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes 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.