Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 11, NWS Topeka, KS
NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2002, 4:38 PM CDT for Morris County, Kansas. It was in force for 37 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
- May 8, 2002, 4:38 PM CDT (21:38 UTC)
- Expired
- May 8, 2002, 5:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Topeka, KS
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Morris County, KS
The radar
The Topeka radar (KTWX), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:38 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 5:00 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Council Grove, KS | |
| May 8, 5:15 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Americus, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 2:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 94 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
- 50 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -814 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1189 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 56 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 522 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 829 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS53 KTOP 082138 TORTOP KSC127-082215- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 437 PM CDT WED MAY 8 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHEASTERN MORRIS COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS * UNTIL 515 PM CDT * AT 433 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 19 MILES SOUTHWEST OF COUNCIL GROVE...OR ABOUT 32 MILES WEST OF EMPORIA... MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED... COUNCIL GROVE THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR HEAD AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION. LAT...LON 3852 9674 3860 9671 3873 9636 3852 9636
The office that day
Everything else NWS Topeka, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 10:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 39 min | |
| May 7, 10:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 36 min | |
| May 8, 4:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 37 min | |
| May 8, 4:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 49 min | |
| May 8, 4:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 53 min | |
| May 8, 4:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 49 min | |
| May 8, 5:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 34 min | |
| May 8, 5:30 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Wabaunsee | 30 min |
| May 8, 5:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 54 min | |
| May 8, 5:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 36 min | |
| May 8, 5:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 48 min | |
| May 8, 5:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 41 min | |
| May 8, 6:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 29 min | |
| May 8, 6:21 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Jefferson | 24 min |
| May 8, 6:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 49 min | |
| May 8, 6:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 48 min |
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.