Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 44, NWS Wichita, KS

May 16, 2002Rice County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 16, 2002, 12:45 AM CDT for Rice County, Kansas. It was in force for 30 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: May 16, 2002, 12:45 AM CDT (05:45 UTC)
Expired: May 16, 2002, 1:15 AM CDT
In force: 30 min
Issued by: NWS Wichita, KS
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Rice County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:47 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 16, 1:02 AM CDT	Hail 1	Silica, KS
May 16, 1:09 AM CDT	Hail 1.75	Alden, KS	Car and roof of house damaged.
May 16, 1:13 AM CDT	Hail 0.75	Lyons, KS
May 16, 1:15 AM CDT	Hail 1	Lyons, 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 15, 9:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 151 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: 22 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -262 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2323 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 496 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 576 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KICT 160545
TORICT
KSC159-160615-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1245 AM CDT THU MAY 16 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  RICE COUNTY IN CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 115 AM CDT

* AT 1245 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 17 MILES EAST OF GREAT
  BEND...OR 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF ELLINWOOD...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35
  MPH. THIS STORM COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE
  NEAR CHASE AROUND 1255 AM CDT...
  NEAR ALDEN AROUND 105 AM CDT...
  NEAR LYONS AROUND 110 AM CDT...

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

LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE ALSO EXPECTED WITH
THIS STORM.

REPEATING...A TORNADO WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR RICE COUNTY UNTIL
115 AM CDT.

LAT...LON 3851 9846 3826 9845 3821 9825 3835 9816

/DARMOFAL

NNNN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 15, 11:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Barton, Russell	57 min
May 16, 12:27 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Barton	33 min
May 16, 1:08 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	McPherson	67 min
May 16, 1:12 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Rice	33 min
May 16, 1:43 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Marion	47 min
May 16, 1:52 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	ICT	Rice	4 hr
May 16, 3:23 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Greenwood	52 min
May 16, 4:32 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	ICT	McPherson	4 hr
May 16, 5:49 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	ICT	Rice	4 hr

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.