Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, July 27, 2002

Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, July 27, 2002
Start: 2002-07-27T20:50
End: 2002-07-27T22:22
Location: Kansas

July 27, 2002 · NWS TOP · 5 events in 3 counties and zones

2 hail, 2 lightning, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: 1
Property damage: $12,000
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 Jul 27, 2:06 PM CST, 6 hours 44 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 27, 2:06 PM CST, 6 hours 44 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
306 PM CDT SAT JUL 27 2002

HEAT AND PRECIPITATION CHANCES MAIN CONCERNS.

ELEVATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70
THIS AFTERNOON IN ELEVATED INSTABILITY AXIS. STORMS LIKELY TO
INCREASE THIS EVENING AS CAP WEAKENS...SOUNDINGS SUGGEST WINDS TO BE
THE MAIN THREAT...WILL ADD SEVERE WORDING TONIGHT TO THE NORTHERN
ZONES.

ANOTHER WARM NIGHT INSTORE AS TEMPS REMAIN WARM AND DEWPOINTS HOVER
AROUND 70...DITTO FOR SUNDAY AS HIGHS REACH UP INTO THE UPPER 90S
NEAR 100. MORNING CLOUD DEBRIS A CONCERN NEAR THE NEBRASKA BORDER
BUT SHOULD ERODE BY AFTERNOON. WILL KEEP A HEAT ADVISORY GOING FOR
MOST OF NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL KANSAS ON SUNDAY.

MODELS AGREE ON EJECTION OF A SHORTWAVE ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS ON
SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. ETA/MESO ETA MOST AGGRESSIVE WITH ITS QPF
BUT MAY BE ON TARGET TO GIVE PARCHED SOIL SOME RELIEF. WILL INCREASE
POPS SUNDAY NIGHT AND WILL TAPER FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST ON
MONDAY AS SYSTEM MOVES EAST AND FRONT SLIDES SOUTH. ANOTHER CHANCE
FOR SEVERE WEATHER AGAIN ON SUNDAY NIGHT.

NEXT CHANCE FOR RAIN COMES THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY AS ANOTHER
FRONT SETS UP NEAR THE NEBRASKA/KANSAS BORDER ON THE SOUTHERN EDGE
OF THE WESTERLIES. EXPECT MCS DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN NEBRASKA TO
MOVE SOUTHEAST INTO NORTHEAST KANSAS. WILL KEEP HIGHEST POPS NEAR
THE NEBRASKA BORDER.

.TOP...HEAT ADVISORY THROUGH SUNDAY FOR NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL
       KANSAS...MAINLY EAST OF HIGHWAY 77.

53

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 27, 8:18 PM CST, 32 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
918 PM CDT SAT JUL 27 2002

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

0917 PM    1 NE WAMEGO               KS    70 MPH TSTM GUST
07/27/02   POTTAWATOMIE

Local storm report, Jul 27, 8:31 PM CST, 19 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
931 PM CDT SAT JUL 27 2002

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

0923 PM    BELVUE                    KS    70 MPH TSTM GUST
07/27/02   POTTAWATOMIE

0930 PM    LOUISVILLE                KS    1.25 INCH HAIL
07/27/02   POTTAWATOMIE

Local storm report, Jul 27, 8:45 PM CST, 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
945 PM CDT SAT JUL 27 2002

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

0944 PM    9 N DELIA                 KS    60 MPH TSTM GUST
07/27/02   JACKSON

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 42 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:49 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Hail, Jackson

When: July 27, 8:50 PM CST
Where: Jackson County, 5 mi N of Delia
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.317, -95.967

Lightning, Riley

When: July 27, 9:27 PM CST
Where: Riley County, Manhattan
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.297, -96.735 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Light struck a trailer in Manhattan and injured a woman touching the trailer.

Lightning, Riley

When: July 27, 9:38 PM CST
Where: Riley County, Manhattan
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.297, -96.735 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning struck the roof of a restaurant and ignited a fire that did serious damage.

Hail, Ottawa

When: July 27, 9:55 PM CST
Where: Ottawa County, 3 mi N of Tescott
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.067, -97.883

Thunderstorm Wind, Ottawa

When: July 27, 10:22 PM CST
Where: Ottawa County, 8 mi E of Tescott
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 39.017, -97.733

Strong winds blew down power lines east of Tescott.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
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: 5304340, 5304341, 5304342, 5304343, 5304344.