Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 64, NWS Wichita, KS

December 18, 2002Labette County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at Dec 18, 2002, 12:38 AM CST for Labette County, Kansas. It was in force for 37 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: Dec 18, 2002, 12:38 AM CST (06:38 UTC)
Expired: Dec 18, 2002, 1:15 AM CST
In force: 37 min
Issued by: NWS Wichita, KS
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Labette County, KS

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:39 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
Dec 18, 12:48 AM CST	Hail 1	Chetopa, 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
Dec 17, 10:40 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 122 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: 39 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -55 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1087 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 267 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 432 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 180638
TORICT
KSC099-180715-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1237 AM CST WED DEC 18 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  LABETTE COUNTY IN KANSAS

* UNTIL 115 AM CST

* AT 1237 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 26 MILES SOUTH OF PARSONS...OR 8 MILES SOUTHWEST
  OF CHETOPA. THIS DANGEROUS STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

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

REPEATING...A TORNADO WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR LABETTE COUNTY
UNTIL 115 AM CST.

LAT...LON 3701 9525 3700 9512 3700 9508 3716 9508
          3712 9519

$$

/JAKUB

NNNN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 17, 9:27 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Montgomery	63 min
Dec 17, 10:02 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Labette, Neosho	58 min
Dec 17, 11:25 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Neosho	65 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.