Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 47, NWS Wichita, KS

May 26, 2002Russell County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 26, 2002, 9:40 PM CDT for Russell County, Kansas. It was in force for 50 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 26, 2002, 9:40 PM CDT (02:40 UTC)
Expired: May 26, 2002, 10:30 PM CDT
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Wichita, KS
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Russell County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 145 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:40 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 26, 10:20 PM CDT	Hail 2.75	Milberger, KS
May 26, 10:40 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Russell, 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 26, 5:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr
May 26, 8:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 141 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: 1171 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2271 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 106 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KICT 270240
TORICT
KSC167-270330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
939 PM CDT SUN MAY 26 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1030 PM CDT

* AT 939 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 9 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
  VICTORIA...OR 7 MILES SOUTH OF GORHAM...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
  THIS STORM COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE
  6 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GORHAM AROUND 945 PM CDT...
  NEAR RUSSELL AROUND 1005 PM CDT...

THIS REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING PREVIOUSLY ISSUED FOR 
RUSSELL COUNTY AT 930 PM.

BARTON COUNTY REMAINS UNDER A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING UNTIL 1015 
PM CDT.

THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM...CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A LARGE
TORNADO. MOVE INTO YOUR TORNADO SHELTER NOW

REPEATING...A TORNADO WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR RUSSELL COUNTY
UNTIL 1030 PM CDT.

LAT...LON 3883 9917 3869 9906 3879 9873 3897 9887

/ES

NNNN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 26, 7:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Barton, Russell	63 min
May 26, 7:37 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Barton, Russell	23 min
May 26, 8:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Barton, Russell	45 min
May 26, 8:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Barton	38 min
May 26, 9:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Russell	43 min
May 26, 9:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Barton, Russell	44 min
May 26, 10:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Russell	46 min
May 26, 10:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Lincoln	57 min
May 26, 11:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Saline	66 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.