Kansas, 2002

Damaging Wind in Kansas, June 12, 2002

June 12, 2002 · NWS SGF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Trees and power lines were blown down around Columbus.

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
$5,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 SGF wrote it up.

Trees and power lines were blown down around Columbus.

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 Springfield, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 12, 2:35 PM CST, 6 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 12, 2:35 PM CST, 6 hours 11 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
335 PM CDT WED JUN 12 2002

WENT AHEAD AND ISSUED FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OF THE FORECAST AREA
THROUGH NOON THURSDAY. STILL A LITTLE TOO MUCH UNCERTAINTY NOW TO
TRY PINNING DOWN TRACK OF MCS ACTIVITY TONIGHT. UPDATED ZONES WILL
BE OUT SHORTLY.

(PREVIOUS DISCUSSION ATTACHED)

MAIN FORECAST ISSUES ARE HEAVY RAIN AND SEVERE POTENTIAL FOR
TONIGHT...AND WHETHER OR NOT TO EXTEND AREAL COVERAGE OF FLOOD WATCH
FOR TONIGHT.

LATEST RADAR SHOWS NORTHERN PORTION OF SECONDARY MCS OVER SOUTHWEST
COUNTIES THIS AFTERNOON. ALSO SEE A FEW STORMS POPPING UP ALONG OUR
WESTERN BORDER AND OVER SOUTH CENTRAL MO. MORNING CONVECTION HAS
LAID OUT SEVERAL OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES. THE MOST OBVIOUS ONE EXTENDS
ACROS NORTHEAST OK TO WEST CENTRAL AR. OTHER MORE SUBTLE BOUNDARIES
EXTEND BETWEEN OSAGE BEACH AND FORT WOOD...AND OVER SOUTHEAST KS.
DEWPOINT TEMPERATURES ARE IN THE LOWER TO MIDDLE 70S WITH A FEW MID
TO UPPER 60S IN RAIN COOLED AIR NEAR JOPLIN. MAIN UPPER LEVEL
SUPPORT FOR CURRENT MCS IS EXITING EASTERN COUNTIES AT THIS TIME.

AT LEAST FOR THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON AND INTO EARLY
EVENING...EXPECT SCATTERED STORMS WITH HEAVY RAINFALL TO FIRE UP
JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE IN THE FORECAST AREA...AS BREAKS IN
CLOUDS...ESPECIALLY OVER EASTERN SECTIONS...HAVE AIDED
DESTABILIZATION...AND PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES REMAIN OVER 1.7
INCHES.

POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES TONIGHT WITH AN MCS OR TWO
DEVELOPING SOMEWHERE IN THE CENTRAL PLAINS THIS EVENING AND MOVING
EAST AROUND UPPER RIDGE. BASED ON LATEST SATELLITE TRENDS AND MODEL
DATA...THERE COULD BE TWO COMPLEXES AFFECTING THE AREA TONIGHT. ONE
WHICH WILL DEVELOP OVER NORTHERN KS/SOUTHERN NE AND CLIP CENTRAL
MO...AND ANOTHER DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHWEST KS/NORTHERN OK AND MOVING
OVER ALREADY SATURATED SOUTH/WEST EDGE OF THE CWA. ALREADY HAVE A
FLOOD WATCH GOING FOR THE WESTERN TWO TIER OF COUNTIES AND MAY
SPREAD WATCH EASTWARD ACROSS THE REST OF THE FORECAST AREA FOR
TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING.

SURFACE FRONT STILL HUNG UP OVER NORTHWEST MO/SOUTHEAST NE WILL MOVE
ACROSS OUR AREA TOMORROW...WITH COOLER AN DRIER CONDITIONS THROUGH
SATURDAY.

WENT AHEAD AND PUT POPS IN FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY. OVERALL TREND HAS
BEEN TO SHIFT UPPER TROUGH WESTWARD...PUTTING OUR AREA UNDER MORE
CYCLONIC FLOW. AVN ALSO HINTS AT POSSIBLE DUAL JET STRUCTURE
FAVORABLE FOR GOOD LIFT OVER THE AREA. ONLY QUESTION WILL BE WHETHER
OR NOT ENOUGH MOISTURE MAKES IT BACK THIS FAR NORTH.

FCSTID = 17/MMT

.SGF...
MO...FLOOD WATCH NOON THURSDAY FOR ZONES
MOZ055>058...MOZ066>071...MOZ077>083...MOZ088>098...MOZ101>106.

KS...FLOOD WATCH NOON THURSDAY FOR ZONES KSZ073...KSZ097...KSZ101.

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 127 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:44 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Cherokee

When
June 12, 8:46 PM CST to 8:50 PM CST
Where
Cherokee County, Columbus
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
37.167, -94.833

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.

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, June 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: 5301264.