Alert archive / Ohio / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Wilmington, OH

May 2, 2002Fairfield County, Franklin County, Ohio

NWS Wilmington, OH issued this tornado warning at May 2, 2002, 3:57 AM EDT for Fairfield County, Franklin County, Ohio. It was in force for 48 min. 4 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 2, 2002, 3:57 AM EDT (07:57 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 2002, 4:45 AM EDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, OH
Area
Whole counties

Counties Fairfield County, OH, Franklin County, OH

The radar

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:00 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
May 2, 4:05 AM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50 EGroveport, OHA few trees were blown down and the siding was stripped off of a house.
May 2, 4:10 AM EDTHail 1Groveport, OH
May 2, 4:15 AM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50 EPickerington, OHSeveral trees were blown down in the northern part of the county.
May 2, 4:17 AM EDTThunderstorm Wind 56 MGrove City, OH

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
May 2, 12:45 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 00:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 97 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2002-05-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 93 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2002-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 256 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
93 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-128 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1044 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
256 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
311 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS51 KILN 020757
TORILN
OHC045-049-020845-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
357 AM EDT THU MAY 2 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  FRANKLIN COUNTY IN CENTRAL OHIO...
  FAIRFIELD COUNTY IN CENTRAL OHIO...

* UNTIL 445 AM EDT...

* AT 357 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 3 MILES EAST OF GROVE CITY...MOVING EAST AT 65
  MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
  BALTIMORE...
  BEXLEY...
  BLACKLICK ESTATES...
  BREMEN...
  CANAL WINCHESTER...
  COLUMBUS...
  GROVE CITY...
    
THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET.

STAY TUNED TO WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR THE LATEST SEVERE
WEATHER INFORMATION.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wilmington, OH issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 12:18 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILNFranklin42 min
May 2, 12:31 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILNFairfield44 min
May 2, 12:44 AM EDTTornado WarningILNFairfield31 min
May 2, 3:11 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILNClark64 min
May 2, 3:28 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILNMadison47 min
May 2, 3:43 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILNFranklin47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Ohio, 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.