Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 242

May 6, 200253 counties in Kansas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 6, 2002, 5:00 PM CDT for 53 counties in Kansas. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 6, 2002, 5:00 PM CDT (22:00 UTC)
Expired: May 6, 2002, 11:00 PM CDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 53 counties

Allen County, KS, Anderson County, KS, Atchison County, KS, Barber County, KS, Barton County, KS, Brown County, KS, Butler County, KS, Chase County, KS, Clay County, KS, Cloud County, KS, Coffey County, KS, Comanche County, KS, Dickinson County, KS, Doniphan County, KS, Douglas County, KS, Edwards County, KS, Ellis County, KS, Ellsworth County, KS, Franklin County, KS, Geary County, KS, Greenwood County, KS, Harvey County, KS, Jackson County, KS, Jefferson County, KS, Kingman County, KS, Kiowa County, KS, Leavenworth County, KS, Lincoln County, KS, Lyon County, KS, Marion County, KS, Marshall County, KS, McPherson County, KS, Mitchell County, KS, Morris County, KS, Nemaha County, KS, Osage County, KS, Osborne County, KS, Ottawa County, KS, Pawnee County, KS, Pottawatomie County, KS, Pratt County, KS, Reno County, KS, Rice County, KS, Riley County, KS, Rooks County, KS, Rush County, KS, Russell County, KS, Saline County, KS, Sedgwick County, KS, Shawnee County, KS, Stafford County, KS, Wabaunsee County, KS, Woodson County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 121 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:03 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.

Warnings issued inside it

14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 6, 5:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	McPherson	59 min
May 6, 5:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Marion	66 min
May 6, 6:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	McPherson	56 min
May 6, 6:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Stafford	53 min
May 6, 7:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Saline	57 min
May 6, 7:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Rice	54 min
May 6, 7:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Marion	61 min
May 6, 7:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Rice	62 min
May 6, 8:07 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Marion	53 min
May 6, 8:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Chase	65 min
May 6, 9:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Leavenworth	55 min
May 6, 9:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Marion	52 min
May 6, 10:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Chase	65 min
May 6, 10:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Leavenworth	61 min

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 191 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: 1767 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -131 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 578 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 421 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 579 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.6
Supercell composite: 34.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 062156
SEL2  
SPC WW 062153
KSZ000-070400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 242
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
453 PM CDT MON MAY 6 2002

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   CENTRAL AND EASTERN KANSAS                             

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 500 PM UNTIL 1100
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 80 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES SOUTHWEST OF RUSSELL KANSAS TO 35
MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF TOPEKA KANSAS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 240...WW 241...

DISCUSSION...AIR MASS REMAINS EXTREMELY UNSTABLE AND WEAKLY CAPPED
ACROSS CENTRAL KS...THEREFORE TRIPLE POINT LOW AND STATIONARY
SURFACE FRONT WILL LIKELY FOCUS DEEP CONVECTION THROUGH THE
EVENING.  DEEP LAYER SHEAR ALSO REMAINS RATHER STRONG AND SHOULD
SUPPORT SUPERCELLS.  GIVEN THE ENHANCED LOW LEVEL SHEAR NEAR THE
SURFACE LOW/FRONT...A FEW TORNADOES CAN BE EXPECTED.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26030.


...EVANS

392,0994 400,0950 374,0950 370,0994

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 5, 9:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Anderson, Atchison, Coffey, Doniphan, Douglas, Franklin and 8 more	5 hr
May 6, 2:00 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Miami	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2002 Every tornado watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.