Damaging Wind and High Wind in Kansas, April 16, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind and High Wind in Kansas, April 16, 2002
Start: 2002-04-16T14:35
End: 2002-04-16T16:00
Location: Kansas

April 16, 2002 · NWS GLD · 9 events in 6 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $50,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS GLD wrote it up.

Wind gusts between 60 and 65 mph were common from Sherman County to Gove County. Due to dry conditions and recently plowed fields, the strong winds produced areas of blowing dust, which limited visibilities to near zero. One fatality occurred when a car hit a semi-trailer truck from the rear on Interstate 70 about 13 miles east of Goodland.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 16, 12:20 PM MST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 16, 12:20 PM MST, 2 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
120 PM MDT TUE APR 16 2002

CHALLENGES ARE TEMPS THROUGHOUT AND WINDS WED.

SOUTHWEST WINDS CONTINUE TO HOWL ACROSS THE DRY CWA STIRRING UP
BLOWING DUST. MARGINAL/NEAR WIND ADVSY IN SOME AREAS...PARTICULARLY
ALONG KS/CO BORDER. COLD/COOL FRONT STRETCHES FROM SOUTH OF LIMON TO
JUST NORHT OF BURLINGTON TO JUST SE OF NORTH PLATTE AT 18Z.
STRONGEST WINDS MY CWA IN COMPRESSION AREA JUST PRECEDING FRONT.
TEMPS MID 80S SOUTH OF FRONT TO MID 60S IN NRN YUMA CNTY.

AT INITIALIZATION PREFER ETA FIT TO UPPER AIR PICTURE OVER PLAINS
STATES...ALTHOUGH MODELS GENERALLY SIMILAR THIS AREA. WILL GO WITH
ONGOING FCST WITH SLIGHT ADJUSTMENTS FROM/LEAN TOWARDS ETA.

FRONT PASSES THROUGH CWA BY NIGHTFALL WITH WINDS DROPPING
CONSIDERABLY. BY MORNING WEAK HIGH TO NORTH ALREADY SHIFTING EAST
AND WINDS RETURNING TO SOUTH. MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES AND DRY AIR SHOULD
ALLOW SFC TEMPS TO DROP INTO MID 30S TO MID 40S.

WED SFC LOW AGAIN DEVELOPS UNDER WEAK S/W IN E WY/NW NE/SW SD WITH
ASSOCIATED TROUGH SOUTH THROUGH E CO. SFC WINDS ONCE AGAIN RISE TO
WINDY LEVEL BUT NOT QUITE AS STRONG AS TODAY. MODELS SHOW DRY AIR
CONTINUES AND 85H TEMPS SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN TODAY SO WILL GO
WITH/OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE FWC GUID (WHICH IS HIGHER THAN OTHER
MODELS).

WINDS STAY IN 10 TO 20 MPH RANGE WED NIGHT WITH MIXING AND KEEP
TEMPS SLIGHTLY WARMER THAN TONIGHT. STILL MOSTLY CLEAR WITH SLOW
COOLING THROUGH THU. HIGHS THU ABOUT 10 TO 15 DEGREES BELOW WED
HIGHS AS WEAK CAA CONTINUES. STRONGER COLD FRONT MOVES ACROSS CWA
LATE THU WITH ASSOCIATED CLDS MOVING IN. THIS OCCURS AS DEEPENING
UPPER LOWS MOVE INTO UT WITH ASSOCIATED JET MOVING TO SOUTH OF CWA.
THEREAFTER MUCH COLDER AS THICKNESS DROP TO NORTH OF JET.

CLOUDINESS TO REMAIN FRI INTO FRI NIGHT WITH HIGH TEMPS FRI ONLY
REACHING 40S TO LOWER 50S AS UPSLOPE BEGINS. CURRENTLY LOOKS AS IF
FRI PM THROUGH SAT AM IS BEST TIME FOR PRECIP (CHANCE POPS). WITH
THICKNESSES AS PROGGED COULD BE MIX OF LT RAIN AND SNOW IN CO PTNS
OF CWA.

CLDY AND COOL CONDITIONS REMAIN THROUGH SAT INTO SUN AS POLAR HIGH
SLIDES SLOWLY SE TO SD AREA BY SAT NIGHT AND THEN EAST SUN. WARMUP
AND DRYING/CLEARING TO BEGIN MON AS WEAK UPPER RIDGE REPLACES
WEEKEND UPPER LOW. UPSLOPE LOW LEVEL AND SW OVERRUNNING CONTINUES
FRI INTO SUN SO WILL KEEP SOME CHANCE PRECIP DURING THIS PD. MRF AND
ECM IN AGREEMENT ON UPPER LOW SITUATION (WITH ECM ACTUALLY STRONGER
THAN MRF)...SO COOL AND CLDY WEEKEND WITH CHANCE LT PRECIP SEEMS
LIKELY ATTM.

.GLD...NONE.

RJC

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 12 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:37 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 high wind, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Sherman

When: April 16, 2:35 PM MST
Where: Sherman County, 9 mi NNE of Goodland
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.467, -101.650

High Wind, Thomas

When: April 16, 2:55 PM MST
Where: Thomas forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.351, -101.055 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Thomas

When: April 16, 3:10 PM MST
Where: Thomas forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 39.351, -101.055 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Logan

When: April 16, 3:15 PM MST
Where: Logan forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.917, -101.148 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Wallace

When: April 16, 3:45 PM MST
Where: Wallace forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 38.917, -101.764 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Sheridan

When: April 16, 3:49 PM MST
Where: Sheridan forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.350, -100.442 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Sheridan

When: April 16, 3:52 PM MST
Where: Sheridan forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.350, -100.442 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Gove

When: April 16, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Gove forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.916, -100.483 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Gove

When: April 16, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Gove forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.916, -100.483 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Kansas in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Kansas, April 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5280742, 5280741, 5280743, 5280744, 5280745, 5280746, 5280747, 5280748, 5280749.