Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2002
Tornado Watch 252
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 7, 2002, 10:00 PM CDT for 15 counties in Kansas; Kay County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 7, 2002, 10:00 PM CDT (03:00 UTC)
- Expired
- May 8, 2002, 2:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
Counties Barber County, KS, Butler County, KS, Comanche County, KS, Cowley County, KS, Edwards County, KS, Harper County, KS, Harvey County, KS, Kingman County, KS, Kiowa County, KS, Pawnee County, KS, Pratt County, KS, Reno County, KS, Sedgwick County, KS, Stafford County, KS, Sumner County, KS, Kay County, OK
The radar
The Wichita radar (KICT), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:02 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
13 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 10:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Kingman | 60 min |
| May 7, 10:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Kiowa | 44 min |
| May 7, 10:20 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | ICT | Kingman | 3 hr |
| May 7, 10:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Sedgwick | 67 min |
| May 7, 10:30 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DDC | Kiowa | 30 min |
| May 7, 10:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Kingman | 62 min |
| May 7, 11:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Barber, Kiowa, Pratt | 75 min |
| May 7, 11:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Sedgwick | 62 min |
| May 7, 11:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Butler | 65 min |
| May 7, 11:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Kingman | 28 min |
| May 7, 11:49 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Kingman | 26 min |
| May 8, 12:13 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Kingman | 62 min |
| May 8, 12:25 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | ICT | Sedgwick | 3 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 136 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 512 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -210 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1278 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 60 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 351 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 498 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WWUS20 KWNS 080257 SEL2 SPC WW 080253 KSZ000-OKZ000-080700- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 252 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 953 PM CDT TUE MAY 7 2002 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS EXTREME NORTH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 1000 PM UNTIL 200 AM CDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 45 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF MEDICINE LODGE KANSAS TO 55 MILES NORTHEAST OF PONCA CITY OKLAHOMA. 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 250...WW 251... DISCUSSION...SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS PERSIST OVER SOUTH CENTRAL KS AT THIS TIME. TORNADO THREAT APPEARS TO BE SLOWLY DIMINISHING WITH THESE STORMS. HOWEVER...PRESENCE OF OLD OUTFLOW BOUNDARY ACROSS NORTHERN OK AND VERY FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT MAY RESULT IN NEW CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT IN THE NEXT 2-3 HOURS. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27035. ...HART 381,0994 375,0962 363,0962 365,0994 WWUS20 KWNS 080257 SEL2 SPC WW 080253 KSZ000-OKZ000-080700- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 252 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 953 PM CDT TUE MAY 7 2002 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS EXTREME NORTH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 1000 PM UNTIL 200 AM CDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 45 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF MEDICINE LODGE KANSAS TO 55 MILES NORTHEAST OF PONCA CITY OKLAHOMA. 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 250...WW 251... DISCUSSION...SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS PERSIST OVER SOUTH CENTRAL KS AT THIS TIME. TORNADO THREAT APPEARS TO BE SLOWLY DIMINISHING WITH THESE STORMS. HOWEVER...PRESENCE OF OLD OUTFLOW BOUNDARY ACROSS NORTHERN OK AND VERY FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT MAY RESULT IN NEW CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT IN THE NEXT 2-3 HOURS. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27035. ...HART 381,0994 375,0962 363,0962 365,0994
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 9:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Cherokee, Crawford, Labette, Montgomery, Neosho, Wilson | 5 hr |
| May 8, 2:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Atchison, Barber, Barton, Brown, Butler, Chase and 37 more | 6 hr |
| May 8, 5:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Anderson, Atchison, Doniphan, Douglas, Franklin, Jefferson and 5 more | 6 hr |
| May 8, 3:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland and 23 more | 6 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2002Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2002Every 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.