Kansas, 2002

Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 11, 2002

August 11, 2002 · NWS TOP · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

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

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 Aug 11, 2:05 PM CST, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 11, 2:05 PM CST, 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
305 PM CDT SUN AUG 11 2002

...MAIN CONCERN IS PRECIP CHANCES TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...

LAPS INDICATES LITTLE TO NO CAP OVER SOUTHEAST 2/3 OF CWA AND WEAK
CONVERGENCE AND SURFACE HEATING IS CAUSING CLUSTERS OF SHOWERS AND
STORMS TO DEVELOP IN CONDITIONALLY UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT.  SURFACE
BASED CAPE OVER 3000 J/KG BUT SHEAR IS RELATIVELY WEAK.  THUS EXPECT
STORMS TO WEAKEN/DISSIPATE BY SUNSET.  HOWEVER, A WEAK VORT MAX
MOVING EASTWARD ACROSS EXTREME SRN NEBRASKA/NRN KS MAY FIRE OFF MORE
CONVECTION LATER TONIGHT AS LOW-LEVEL JET STRENGTHENS.  THUS HAVE
LOW POPS FOR ALL OF CWA TONIGHT.

MODEL SURFACE FORECASTS IN SHORT RANGE HAVE VERY SIMILAR TIMING WITH
TROUGH/FRONT PASSAGE THROUGH EASTERN KANSAS MONDAY THROUGH MONDAY
NIGHT, IN ASSOCIATION WITH UPPER SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVING SOUTHEAST
ACROSS CENTRAL PLAINS.  WHILE DIFFERENCES EXIST IN MODEL PRECIP
FORECASTS TONIGHT INTO EARLY MONDAY...THEY ARE VERY SIMILAR WITH
GENERATING SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL FROM MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
TUESDAY MORNING ACROSS CWA.  THUS HIGHEST POPS WILL BE DURING THAT
PERIOD.

SINCE MODELS TIMING OF TROUGH CONSISTENT WITH EACH OTHER, TIMING OF
DRY WEATHER FOR TUESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY ALSO LOOKS VERY GOOD,
AND IS CONSISTENT WITH GOING FORECAST.  12Z AVN AND 00 MRF HINT AT
PRECIP RETURNING THURSDAY NIGHT OR FRIDAY ASSOCIATED WITH WEAK
SHORTWAVE AND WARM ADVECTION.  WILL KEEP DRY FORECAST GOING AS NOT
CONFIDENT WEAK SYSTEM DAY 5 JUSTIFIES ADDING POPS.  WHILE MRF WOULD
BRING PRECIP BACK NEXT SUNDAY WITH ANOTHER FRONTAL PASSAGE, TIMING
OF SYSTEM DAY 7 QUESTIONABLE AND 00Z MRF 500 MB FORECAST FOR THAT
TIME INCONSISTENT WITH ENSEMBLE MEAN.

BIGGEST TEMPERATURE PROBLEMS FOR MON AND TUES WITH WIDE VARIATION IN
GUIDANCE FORECASTS, PARTICULARLY MONDAY.  ETA MOS GOES 97 FOR MHK ON
MONDAY WHILE MAV GOES 82.  WILL NOT GO TOWARD EITHER EXTEME BUT
EXPECT HIGHS TO BE NEAR OR ABOVE FWC VALUES IN UPPER 80S TO LOW
90S.  COOL DAY ON TUESDAY BEHIND FRONT WITH 70S IN CLOUDS, RAIN
AND NORTHERLY WIND.

TOP...NONE

60

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Thunderstorm Wind, Nemaha

When
August 11, 2:45 PM CST
Where
Nemaha County, Corning
Measured
56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.650, -96.033

Hail, Pottawatomie

When
August 11, 5:00 PM CST
Where
Pottawatomie County, Wamego
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.200, -96.317

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.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Kansas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, August 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: 5311876, 5311877.