Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 11, 2002

Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 11, 2002
Start: 2002-08-11T21:16
End: 2002-08-11T22:10
Location: Kansas

August 11, 2002 · NWS GID · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

Severe thunderstorms produced winds in excess of 70 mph across Smith county. Large tree limbs fell, with at least one falling on a car.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $75,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 GID wrote it up.

Severe thunderstorms produced winds in excess of 70 mph across Smith county. Large tree limbs fell, with at least one falling on a car. Other minor house damage was reported around Smith Center.

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 Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 11, 2:32 PM CST, 6 hours 44 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 11, 2:32 PM CST, 6 hours 44 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
332 PM CDT SUN AUG 11 2002

POPS THROUGH MONDAY...THEN TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST CONCERNS.

STRONG AUGUST UPPER LOW PRESSURE MOVING TOWARD NORTHEAST MONTANA AND
INTENSIFYING AS PROGGED. FRONT AND SHORTWAVE ROUNDING THE BEND INTO
WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA FIRE CONVECTION THERE...AND ISOLATED STORMS
TRYING TO GO NEAR VALENTINE. MID LEVEL WINDS FIELDS WEAKEN AS WE
MOVE SOUTH...BUT ATMOSPHERE IS JUICY WITH MID 60 DEWPOINTS
PREVALENT. BOUNDARIES FROM MORNING/EARLY AFTERNOON CONVECTION SEEM
TO BE EARLY EVENING FOCUS...WITH BEST SHOT WESTERN ZONES AS STORMS
DRIFT EAST THIS EVENING FROM PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH. ACTION SHOULD FIRE
AGAIN LATER TONIGHT...AND FRONT...LLJ AND UPPER WAVE TEAM TO
GENERATE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING SOUTHEAST ACROSS NORTHEAST HALF OF THE
CWFA. HAVE INCLUDED HIGHER POPS THERE...AS OVERNIGHT HOURS WILL BE
OF SOME INTEREST FOR BOTH HAIL AND STRONG WINDS. OF NOTE IS FORECAST
OF AREA OF DIFFLUENT MID LEVEL FLOW OVER EASTERN CWFA BY 06Z...
POSSIBLY ENHANCE CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL AND POSSIBLY ISOLATE HEAVY
RAINS.

MONDAY IS SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT AS FRONT BISECTS REGION. HAVE INCLUDED
POPS ALL BUT WESTERN 5 ZONES. LINGERING LLJ AND FROPA WILL LEAD TO
ONGOING CONVECTION AT SUNRISE NORTHEAST/EAST ZONES...AND AS THE
FRONT MOVES ACROSS THE CWFA...SOUTHEAST ZONES WILL HAVE A CHANCE.
TEMPERATURES WILL VARY WIDELY...GENERALLY FROM THE UPPER 70S IN THE
NORTHWEST CWFA TO NEAR 90 SOUTHEAST. AVN/NGM/ETA ALMOST UNIFORM IN
PLACING SURFACE FRONT FROM BEATRICE TO BELOIT BY 21Z...AND DO EXPECT
AFTERNOON CONVECTION TO REFIRE ALONG IT. KEPT THE CONTINUE SHOT OF
STORMS THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS FAR SOUTHEAST.

AM BANKING ON AT LEAST SOME SUNSHINE TUESDAY...ALTHOUGH PASSAGE OF
H5 TROUGH DOESNT SLIP THROUGH UNTIL LATE. PREVIOUS FORECAST HAD
LOWER 80S...AND HAVE HELD AS SUCH...BUT GUIDANCE ALL SUGGESTS COOLER
70S MORE LIKELY...WITH PLENTY OF CLOUDS. MIDNIGHT SHIFT MAY WANT TO
ADJUST TO MORE FALL LIKE TEMPERATURES.

THE EXTENDED RANGE MODELS STILL BRING FRONTS THE AREA WITH VARYING
DEGREES OF SUCCESS. EC AND CANADIAN ARE QUITE BOLD IN FROPA FOR THE
DAY 4 TIME FRAME...AVN JUST A GLANCING BLOW. ALL GENERALLY ADVERTISE
STRONG FRONT FOR THE WEEKEND...AND POSSIBLY A ROUND OF RAINFALL. FOR
NOW CONTINUITY IS BEST UNTIL A BETTER HANDLE ON THINGS CAN BE HAD. NO
MAJOR CHANGES.

.GID...NONE.

MORITZ

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 11, 4:18 PM CST, 4 hours 58 minutes before

KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-121200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
518 PM CDT SUN AUG 11 2002

...SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE LATE TONIGHT OVER SOUTH CENTRAL
NEBRASKA...

ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING SOUTH OF A
LINE FROM YORK TO SMITH CENTER AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM LEXINGTON
TO GREELEY.  DAMAGING WIND GUSTS ARE POSSIBLE WITH STORMS THAT
FORM IN THESE AREAS.

THERE IS A CHANCE FOR MORE THUNDERSTORMS LATER TONIGHT AS A POTENT
COLD FRONT SURGES TOWARD CENTRAL NEBRASKA. THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO FIRE
ALONG THIS BOUNDARY MAY RAPIDLY REACH SEVERE LEVELS WITH THE PRIMARY
THREAT BEING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...MAINLY FOR AREAS WEST OF
A LINE FROM BEAVER CITY TO SAINT PAUL.

09

Local storm report, Aug 11, 8:07 PM CST, 1 hour 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
907 PM CDT SUN AUG 11 2002

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

0829 PM    2 W WILSONVILLE           NE   .75 INCH HAIL
08/11/02   FURNAS                         REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

0835 PM    7 W ELYRIA                NE   1.75 INCH HAIL
08/11/02   VALLEY                         NICKEL TO GOLFBALL SIZE
                                          HAIL COVERING THE
                                          GROUND. REPORTED BY
                                          STORM SPOTTER.

07

Local storm report, Aug 11, 8:46 PM CST, 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
946 PM CDT SUN AUG 11 2002

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

0920 PM    5 N ARCADIA               NE   .88 INCH HAIL
08/11/02   VALLEY                         REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0941 PM    ARCADIA                   NE   .75 INCH HAIL
08/11/02   VALLEY                         REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

07

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 106 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:16 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Hail, Phillips

When: August 11, 9:16 PM CST
Where: Phillips County, 6 mi W of Phillipsburg
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.750, -99.433

Hail, Smith

When: August 11, 9:50 PM CST
Where: Smith County, Athol
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.767, -98.917

Thunderstorm Wind, Smith

When: August 11, 10:10 PM CST
Where: Smith County, Smith Center
Measured: 63 kt (72 mph)
Property damage: $75,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 39.783, -98.783

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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, 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: 5314963, 5314964, 5314965.