Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, July 18, 2002

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, July 18, 2002
Start: 2002-07-18T13:45
End: 2002-07-18T18:24
Location: Kansas

July 18, 2002 · NWS ICT · 7 events in 5 counties and zones

5 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 18, 1:15 PM CST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 18, 1:15 PM CST, 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
215 PM CDT THU JUL 18 2002

FCST FOCUS ON THUNDERSTORM CHCS TONIGHT...THEN MAINLY ON TEMPS
THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH PRECIP CHCS/TEMPS NEXT WEEK.

ALL IN ALL WILL STAY WITH GOING FCST TEMPS THROUGH THE WEEKEND WHICH
ARE A BLEND OF FWC/AVN. WILL THEN LEAN TOWARD THE ECMWF IDEA OF
BROAD CYCLONIC FLOW DEVELOPING ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS WITH A
WEAK FRONT POSSIBLE IN THE AREA MON-WEDS.

IN THE SHORT TERM...MID LEVEL TROUGH WILL SAG SOUTH ACROSS THE AREA
TONIGHT. WAA IN THE 850-700MB LEVEL ALONG WITH DAYTIME HEATING AND
MOISTURE/MASS CONVERGENCE WILL AID IN THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHEAST
KANSAS...AT LEAST THROUGH MIDNIGHT. 30-40 PERCENT COVERAGE LOOKS
REASONABLE AT THE MOMENT. WILL KEEP THE REST OF THE CWA DRY.

FRIDAY...UPPER HTS WILL BUILD ACROSS THE REGION WHILE MORE ORGANIZED
WEST/NW FLOW WILL AID IN POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT NEARER
SFC BOUNDARY ACROSS NEB. ANY CONVECTION SHOULD SLIDE SE INTO WESTERN
MO. SE KS WILL BE A CLOSE CALL BUT WILL KEEP CONDS DRY. HIGHS WILL
LIKELY BE A FEW DEGREES WARMER THAN TODAY WITH AROUND 100 TO LOW
100S ACROSS CENTRAL KS TO NEAR 100 SOUTH CENTRAL AND MID 90S SE.
HEAT INDICES SHOULD REMAIN NEAR OR BELOW 105F BASED ON CURRENT
MOISTURE PROFILES BY AFTERNOON.

DRY FRIDAY NIGHT...IN FACT DRY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. CURRENT FCST
HIGHS LOOK ON TRACK WHILE HEAT INDICES IN THE 100 TO 105F RANGE WILL
CONTINUE.

EXTENDED...BROAD CYCLONIC FLOW WILL DEVELOP AS HTS LOWER ACROSS THE
NORTHERN PLAINS NEXT WEEK. ECMWF DEPICTION SEEMS MORE REASONABLE AS
OPPOSED TO AVN WHICH FCSTS MUCH STRONGER SHORTWAVES WITHIN THE FLOW.
ALL OF THIS POINTS TOWARD A FRONT SLOWLY SAGGING THROUGH THE AREA
BEGINNING SOMETIME MONDAY WITH SOME THREAT FOR PRECIP THROUGH TUES.
WILL KEEP THE CURRENT GRADUAL COOLING TREND...NEAR MEX GUIDANCE
NUMBERS.

CO

.ICT...NONE

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:46 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Hail, Greenwood

When: July 18, 1:45 PM CST
Where: Greenwood County, 5 mi N of Eureka
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.883, -96.300

Hail, Greenwood

When: July 18, 1:55 PM CST
Where: Greenwood County, 1 mi N of Eureka
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.833, -96.300

Occurred on north side of town.

Hail, Chase

When: July 18, 3:35 PM CST
Where: Chase County, Wonsevu
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 38.150, -96.767

Hail, Chase

When: July 18, 3:53 PM CST
Where: Chase County, Wonsevu
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.150, -96.767

Hail, Marion

When: July 18, 4:05 PM CST
Where: Marion County, 2 mi NE of Burns
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 38.100, -96.850

Thunderstorm Wind, Russell

When: July 18, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Russell County, 11 mi E of Milberger
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.717, -98.717

Thunderstorm Wind, Barton

When: July 18, 6:24 PM CST
Where: Barton County, 8 mi N of Claflin
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.633, -98.533

Eight-inch limbs downed.

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, July 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: 5305229, 5305230, 5305231, 5305232, 5303720, 5303721, 5303722.