Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 18 to 20, 2002

Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, August 18 to 20, 2002
Start: 2002-08-18T23:06
End: 2002-08-20T00:01
Location: Kansas

August 18 to 20, 2002 · NWS TOP · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

3 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 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: $3,000
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 Aug 18, 2:35 PM CST, 8 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 2:35 PM CST, 8 hours 31 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
335 PM CDT SUN AUG 18 2002

FNTS WILL TRAVERSE THE AREA THRU NEXT 36 HRS BRINGG CHC OF PCPN AND
CHANGES IN WX. CURRENTLY WARM FNT ALNG KS-NE BRDR CONTS TO DRIFT
NORTH WITH GOOD CLEARING NOTED OVER CWA. TEMPS AND DEW PTS HAVE SHOT
UP AS SRLY WINDS INCRSG. HOWEVER RATHER VIGOROUS SHORTWV CONTS TO
MOVE SEWD AND WILL MOVE MAINLY ACRSS NRN PLNS TONIGT AND ERLY MON.
SRN PTN OF WAVE WILL AFFECT LOCAL AREA AND PUSH FNT SWD LATE TONGT
AND MONDAY WITH NERLY FLO AT SFC. FNT WILL STALL LT MONDAY AND THEN
RETURN NORTH AGAIN MON NGHT AND TUES AS WARM FNT...THIS TIME TO STAY
NORTH OF AREA FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS.

UPR SHORTWV TNGT MVG ACROS FNT SHUD FIRE LARGE CONVECTIVE AREA WHICH
WILL MOVE THRU MOST OF CWA, ESPECIALLY NRN PTNS, LATE. WOULD NOT
EXPECT PCPN UNTIL AFTR MIDN OR SO WITH EVENG HOURS DRY DUE TO ATMOS
BEING WARM AND CAPPED. WILL MENTION PSBL HVY RAINFALL TONIGHT DUE TO
HIGH DEWPTS, PWS AND PSBL TRAING ECHOES.

ON MONDAY WITH FNT AGAIN SOUTH OF AREA WOULD EXPCT CLDS AND COOLER
TEMPS WITH MINIMAL CHC OF PCPN. WILL KEEP CURRENT LO POPS. BY MON
NGT FNT AGAIN WORKS NWD WITH BETTR CHC OF PCPN AS LO LVL JET SETS UP
AND OVERRNG PCPN.

IN LATR PDS, APPEARS ANOTHER FROPA LATE FRIDAY OR SATURDAY. PRIOR TO
FNT TEMPS PEAK IN THE 90S, ALITTLE HIGHER THAN FMR TEMPS. NO PCPN
WITH LATE WEEK FRNT, BUT MAY HAVE TO ADD IN LATR FCSTS.

.TOP...NONE

36

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Hail, Republic

When: August 18, 11:06 PM CST
Where: Republic County, 4 mi SSE of Munden
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.867, -97.467

Hail, Washington

When: August 18, 11:21 PM CST
Where: Washington County, 2 mi N of Haddam
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.883, -97.300

Hail, Dickinson

When: August 19, 12:57 AM CST
Where: Dickinson County, Moonlight
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.000, -97.117

Thunderstorm Wind, Pottawatomie

When: August 19, 1:05 AM CST
Where: Pottawatomie County, 3 mi NE of Louisville
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.283, -96.283

Lightning, Riley

When: August 20, 12:01 AM CST
Where: Riley County, Manhattan
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.297, -96.735 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning struck at Kansas State University and blew out a transformer, burnt some wiring, and broke a lightning arrester.

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.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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: 5311888, 5311889, 5311890, 5311891, 5311892.