Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, April 18, 2002

Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, April 18, 2002
Start: 2002-04-18T00:20
End: 2002-04-18T01:05
Location: Kansas

April 18, 2002 · NWS TOP · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

3 hail, 1 high wind, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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 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 Topeka, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 17, 2:00 PM CST, 10 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 17, 2:00 PM CST, 10 hours 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
3 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

MAIN PROBLEMS ARE CONSIDERATIONS OF STG CONVECTION TONIGHT AND
THURSDAY...THEN AMT OF COOLING AND PCPN CHCS INTO THE WEEKEND.

VERY WARM ON THURSDAY WITH SOME READINGS NEAR RECORD HIGH LVLS...AM
USING MESO-ETA SFC TEMPERATURES FOR MAX TEMP GUIDANCE ON THURSDAY.

RATHER SLIM CHCS FOR CONVECTION TONIGHT. NOT QUITE SLIM ENUF TO
PRECLUDE MENTION...BUT WILL HOLD WITH MINIMAL POPS FOR THREE
REASONS...ALL OF WHICH MAY BE RATHER WEAK. FIRST IS WARMFRONTAL
BOUNDARY. LATEST PROFILERS FROM 19Z SHOW BNDRY JUST OFF THE SFC
(FIRST SVRL GATES OF PROFILERS) SHOW IT ALG NRN BORDER. ALL SMALLER
GRID MODELS INCLUDING MESO-ETA AND WORKSTATION ETA SHOW SFC FNT MVG
RAPIDLY NORTH REST OF THIS AFTERNOON. COULD HAVE A STORM OR TWO
ALONG NRN BORDER EARLY BUT MORE LIKELY TO NORTH OF CWA. SECOND
REASON IS CONVECTION TRYING TO GET ITSELF TOGETHER ALG DRY LINE WRN
OK. THIS COULD DVLP FURTHER NORTH NEXT FEW HOURS...THEN MAY TRACK
NORTHEAST INTO CWA LATE EVENING. HOWEVER WOULD NOT EXPECT THIS TO
MAKE MUCH PROGRESS EAST...IF IT EVEN MAKES IT THIS FAR. NOTE AND
AGREE WITH ICT THAT STORMS MAY HAVE A HARD TIME MAKING IT TOO FAR
INTO KS...LET ALONE MY CWA. BUT STILL SOME REMOTE THREAT. PROBABLY
THE BEST THREAT...ALBEIT STILL QUITE SMALL...IS THE THREAT FOR
ELEVATED CONVECTION WITHIN THE LOW LVL JET LATER TONIGHT. BUFKIT
SNDGS IMPLY THIS AFT MIDNIGHT WITHIN AREA. IF THIS HAPPENS, THIS
CONVECTION COULD LINGER INTO TMRW AM. THEREFORE...WILL CONTINUE WITH
SLGT CHC FOR CONVECTION TONIGHT...THEN MENTION CONVECTION CNTRL AND
ERN PTN CWA ON THURSDAY. FOLLOWING MESO-ETA LOW LVL MOISTURE
PROFILE... WRN PTN CWA NOT LIKELY TO SEE ANY CONVECTION TMRW SINCE
DRYER AIR LIKELY WORKING IN BY MIDDAY TMRW. QUESTION THEN BECOMES
WHERE BEST MOISTURE CONVERGENCE SETS UP BY THIS TIME THURSDAY. ALSO
AGREE WITH ICT THAT TMRW COULD BE AN ACTIVE SVR WX DAY. NUMEROUS
SHORT WAVE IMPULSES MOVG OVR AREA LATE IN THE AFTN COULD BE JUST
ENOUGH IMPETUS FOR EXPLOSIVE DVLPMT. GIVEN CURRENT MESO-ETA
FCST...WOULD SUSPECT THAT MAY HAPPEN NEAR OR JUST EAST OF A
SENECA-ABILENE LINE BY MID TO LATE AFTN. CONVECTION WOULD THEN PUSH
EAST OVR REST OF CWA...EXITING SOUTHEASTERN PTN OF CWA AFT MIDNIGHT.

LATER FORECAST PDS PROBLEMATIC TOO. IF HPCS SFC WX DEPICTION IS
RIGHT...CANT SEE MUCH SUPPORT FOR PCPN OVER THE WEEKEND...CERTAINLY
NOT TSTMS. OF COURSE, COULD SEE LOTS OF CLOUDS WITH SOME
OVRRNG...BUT WIDESPREAD PCPN NOT LIKELY. WITH NORTHERLY FLOW AND
CLOUDS...TEMPERATURES BLO CLIMO LIKELY. NICE RECOVERY BY EARLY NEXT
WEEK. IF LESS CLOUDS OCCUR THAN FORECAST...WEEKEND TEMPS WOULD NOT
BE THAT FAR REMOVED FROM CLIMO HIGHS/LOWS...I.E. 60S/40S.

.TOP...NONE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 17, 10:33 PM CST, 1 hour 47 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1133 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1113 PM    2 SW CARLTON              KS    .75 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   DICKINSON                       PUBLIC REPORTED DIME
                                           SIZE HAIL

Local storm report, Apr 17, 10:34 PM CST, 1 hour 46 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1134 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1124 PM    1S ELMO                   KS    1 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   DICKINSON

Local storm report, Apr 17, 10:35 PM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1135 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1123 PM    CARLTON                   KS    1 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   DICKINSON

Local storm report, Apr 17, 10:48 PM CST, 1 hour 32 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1148 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1148 PM    5N HERINGTON              KS    1 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   DICKINSON

Local storm report, Apr 17, 11:05 PM CST, 1 hour 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1205 AM CDT THU APR 18 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1204 AM    MINNEAPOLIS               KS    .75 INCH HAIL
04/18/02   OTTAWA                          PENNY SIZE HAIL
                                           REPORTED BY LAW
                                           ENFORCEMENT

Local storm report, Apr 18, 12:20 AM CST, 0 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
120 AM CDT THU APR 18 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1111 PM    3 SW CARLTON              KS    1.25 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   DICKINSON                       PUBLIC REPORTED HALF
                                           DOLLAR SIZE HAIL

1113 PM    2 SW CARLTON              KS    .75 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   DICKINSON                       PUBLIC REPORTED DIME
                                           SIZE HAIL

1120 PM    3 S CARLTON               KS    TORNADO
04/17/02   DICKINSON                       PUBLIC REPORTED ROARING
                                           NOISE OVERHEAD AS STORM
                                           PASSED BY

1123 PM    CARLTON                   KS    1 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   DICKINSON

1124 PM    3 S ELMO                  KS    1.75 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   DICKINSON                       PUBLIC REPORTED GOLF
                                           BALL SIZE HAIL

1124 PM    1S ELMO                   KS    1 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   DICKINSON

1130 PM    ST MARYS                  KS    NON TSTM WINDS
04/17/02   POTTAWATOMIE                    POWER OUT IN ST MARYS.
                                           REPORTS OF HIGH WINDS
                                           IN BELVUE ALSO.
                                           REPORTED BY CO EM.

1144 PM    9N DELIA                  KS    NON TSTM WINDS
04/17/02   JACKSON                         ESTIMATED 75 MPH

1148 PM    5N HERINGTON              KS    1 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   DICKINSON

1155 PM    15W HOLTON                KS    NON TSTM WINDS
04/17/02   JACKSON                         ESTIMATED 70 TO 75 MPH.

1159 PM    CORNING                   KS    NON TSTM WINDS
04/17/02   NEMAHA                          ESTIMATED 70 TO 75.

1241 AM    2N LONGFORD               KS    1 INCH HAIL
04/18/02   CLAY                            REPORTED BY SO

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:18 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail, 1 high wind, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Clay

When: April 18, 12:20 AM CST
Where: Clay County, 3 mi S of Green
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.383, -97.000

Hail, Riley

When: April 18, 12:35 AM CST
Where: Riley County, 7 mi N of Randolph
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.533, -96.767

Hail, Ottawa

When: April 18, 12:35 AM CST
Where: Ottawa County, Minneapolis
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.133, -97.717

High Wind, Nemaha

When: April 18, 12:59 AM CST
Where: Nemaha forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.784, -96.014 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Marshall

When: April 18, 1:05 AM CST
Where: Marshall County, 2 mi NW of Frankfort
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.717, -96.450

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
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.

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: 5289907, 5289908, 5289909, 5289910, 5289911.