Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 9, NWS Topeka, KS
NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 5, 2002, 7:15 PM CDT for Ottawa County, Kansas. It was in force for 60 min. 7 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 5, 2002, 7:15 PM CDT (00:15 UTC)
- Expired
- May 5, 2002, 8:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 60 min
- Issued by
- NWS Topeka, KS
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Ottawa County, KS
The radar
The Topeka radar (KTWX), 132 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:19 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 5, 7:20 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Beverly, KS | Shed damaged. |
| May 5, 7:20 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Tescott, KS | |
| May 5, 7:30 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Tescott, KS | |
| May 5, 7:30 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 65 E | Tescott, KS | |
| May 5, 8:05 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Bennington, KS | |
| May 5, 8:05 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Wells, KS | |
| May 5, 8:06 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Bennington, 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 5, 5:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 183 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
- 1298 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -86 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1520 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 42 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 88 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 2.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS53 KTOP 060015 TORTOP KSC143-060115- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 713 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN OTTAWA COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS * UNTIL 815 PM CDT * AT 712 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 4 MILES WEST OF TESCOTT...OR ABOUT 23 MILES NORTHWEST OF SALINA...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED... TESCOTT CULVER MINNEAPOLIS BENNINGTON A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED OVER BEVERLY IN LINCOLN COUNTY AT 710PM. THIS WARNING IS AN UPGRADE OF A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED AT 641PM. CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A BUILDING. IF NO BUILDING IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT. AVOID OVERPASSES. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION. LAT...LON 3914 9801 3896 9800 3896 9738 3917 9737
The office that day
Everything else NWS Topeka, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 7:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 35 min | |
| May 5, 7:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 47 min | |
| May 5, 8:14 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | TOP | Brown, Clay, Dickinson, Geary, Jackson, Nemaha and 3 more | 3 hr |
| May 5, 8:16 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | TOP | Clay, Dickinson, Geary, Morris, Riley | 2 hr |
| May 5, 8:22 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | TOP | Bourbon, Clay, Dickinson, Geary, Morris, Riley | 2 hr |
| May 5, 8:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 53 min | |
| May 5, 8:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 49 min | |
| May 5, 8:36 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | TOP | Bourbon, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Cowley | 2 hr |
| May 5, 8:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 44 min | |
| May 5, 8:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 41 min | |
| May 5, 8:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 52 min | |
| May 5, 9:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 49 min | |
| May 5, 9:47 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | TOP | Brown, Clay, Dickinson, Geary, Jackson, Nemaha and 3 more | 58 min |
| May 5, 10:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 49 min | |
| May 5, 10:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 44 min | |
| May 5, 10:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 55 min | |
| May 5, 11:03 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Washington | 27 min |
| May 6, 5:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 46 min | |
| May 6, 6:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | 51 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.