Thunderstorms developed over northeast Kansas late in the afternoon of the 26th and gradually moved south to east central Kansas late in the evening. Many of the storms became severe and produced numerous reports of large hail and damaging winds.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS TOP wrote it up.
Thunderstorms developed over northeast Kansas late in the afternoon of the 26th and gradually moved south to east central Kansas late in the evening. Many of the storms became severe and produced numerous reports of large hail and damaging winds. Heavy rains from the thunderstorms produced flash flooding in Brown county. But the most damage was done by lightning. A fire started by lightning completely destroyed a home in Topeka. Fires started by lightning also did some damage to a grain elevator in Topeka and to a house in Whiting.
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 Jun 26, 1:19 PM CST, 7 hours 1 minute earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 219 PM CDT WED JUN 26 2002 RAIN CHANCES TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING THEN TEMPERATURES ARE THE MAIN FORECAST CONCERNS. THUNDERSTORMS HAVE FIRED ALONG COLD FRONT DRIFTING SOUTH INTO SOUTHWEST IOWA AND SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA. MORE STORMS WERE CONTINUING TO BUILD OUT WEST NEAR MCV. MCV MOVING SOUTH SO SHOULD NOT AFFECT THE CWA. COLD FRONT WAS MAKING STEADY PROGRESS AND WILL BEGIN AFFECTING THE CWA LATE THIS AFTERNOON. LAPS DATA SHOWS INSTABILITY AXIS JUST AHEAD OF FRONT FROM EASTERN IOWA TO NORTHEAST KANSAS. CAPES ARE AROUND 3000 J/KG IN FAR NORTHEAST KANSAS WITH CAP WEAKENING. EXPECT STORMS TO CONTINUE TO FIRE ALONG FRONTAL BOUNDARY AS IT MOVES INTO NORTHERN CWA. NORTHEAST ZONES ARE LIKELY TO SEE SCATTERED STORMS THIS EVENING...WITH OTHER AREAS WEST AND SOUTH WITH CHANCE POPS TONIGHT. FRONT LIMPS THROUGH THE CWA BY MORNING...BUT WILL MAINTAIN SLIGHT CHANCE FOR MORNING SHOWERS IN THE SOUTH. TEMPERATURES WILL BE SLIGHTLY COOLER WITH NORTHEAST WINDS AND LOWER DEW POINTS ON THURSDAY. REST OF THE FORECAST WILL BE DOMINATED BY INCREASING HEIGHTS ALOFT THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. FRONTAL BOUNDARY MOVING THROUGH TONIGHT WILL WASH OUT BEFORE A RETURN TRIP CAN BE MADE...AND ANY UPPER IMPULSES WILL HARD TO PIN DOWN EARLY NEXT WEEK. SO WILL CONTINUE DRY FORECAST WITH TEMPERATURES INCREASING INTO THE 90S BY THE WEEKEND AND PERSISTING THROUGH WEDNESDAY. BASICALLY A RETURN TO SUMMERTIME PATTERN OF LATE. .TOP...NONE 62
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
749 PM CDT WED JUN 26 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0745 PM LAWRENCE KS .75 INCH HAIL
06/26/02 DOUGLASPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
750 PM CDT WED JUN 26 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0745 PM PARKERVILLE KS .75 INCH HAIL
06/26/02 MORRISPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
826 PM CDT WED JUN 26 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0749 PM WILLIAMSBURG KS 65 MPH TSTM GUST
06/26/02 FRANKLIN REPORTED BY SHERIFF.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
833 PM CDT WED JUN 26 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0757 PM 7 E ALTA VISTA KS .75 INCH HAIL
06/26/02 WABAUNSEEPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
846 PM CDT WED JUN 26 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0805 PM 1 E WILLIAMSBURG KS 60 MPH TSTM GUST
06/26/02 FRANKLINPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
910 PM CDT WED JUN 26 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0907 PM 9 SW EMPORIA KS 70 MPH TSTM GUST
06/26/02 LYONThe Topeka radar (KTWX), 61 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:38 UTC.
3 hail, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a tree near a power line causing some power outages for a time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, June 2002
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: 5297141, 5297142, 5297143, 5297144.