Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 61, NWS Wichita, KS

August 12, 2002Rice County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at Aug 12, 2002, 8:48 PM CDT for Rice County, Kansas. It was in force for 27 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
Aug 12, 2002, 8:48 PM CDT (01:48 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 2002, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
27 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), 97 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:50 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
Aug 12, 9:07 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 56 ELyons, KSMonetary breakdown on farm losses: Dwellings and service buildings= $150,000; Structures (i.e. silos) =$50,000; Machinery=$25,000. Total acreage affected: 500,000. USDA Flash Situation Report contributed greatly to this narrative. In addition, power lines down
Aug 12, 9:22 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52 ELyons, KSSee 2030 CST entry for damage summary.

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
Aug 12, 6:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 168 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, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 2002-08-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2080 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 2002-08-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 158 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2080 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-70 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1516 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
158 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
339 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
23.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

247 
WFUS53 KICT 130148
TORICT
KSC159-130215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
848 PM CDT MON AUG 12 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  RICE COUNTY IN KANSAS

* UNTIL 915 PM CDT

* AT 848 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 22 MILES NORTHWEST OF HUTCHINSON...OR 3 MILES
  SOUTHEAST OF LYONS. THIS DANGEROUS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE
  NEAR LITTLE RIVER AROUND 910 PM CDT...

THIS REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING PREVIOUSLY ISSUED FOR
THE WARNED AREA.


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

REPEATING...A TORNADO WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR RICE COUNTY UNTIL 
915 PM CDT.

LAT...LON 3839 9828 3821 9823 3822 9792 3848 9793

/COX

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 7:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTEllsworth62 min
Aug 12, 7:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRice59 min
Aug 12, 8:22 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTRice6 hr
Aug 12, 8:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRice64 min
Aug 12, 9:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTReno55 min
Aug 12, 9:10 PM CDTTornado WarningICTRice35 min
Aug 12, 9:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMcPherson64 min
Aug 12, 9:31 PM CDTTornado WarningICTReno59 min
Aug 12, 10:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTKingman61 min
Aug 12, 10:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTHarvey, Sedgwick84 min
Aug 12, 10:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTReno33 min
Aug 12, 10:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSumner67 min
Aug 12, 11:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTButler83 min
Aug 12, 11:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTReno59 min
Aug 12, 11:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTEllsworth56 min
Aug 13, 12:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSumner30 min
Aug 13, 12:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTCowley84 min
Aug 13, 12:50 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTEllsworth, Rice6 hr
Aug 13, 1:48 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTReno6 hr
Aug 13, 6:54 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTRice5 hr
Aug 13, 7:56 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTReno6 hr

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.