Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Kansas, June 26, 2002

Name: Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Kansas, June 26, 2002
Start: 2002-06-26T17:31
End: 2002-06-26T17:40
Location: Kansas

June 26, 2002 · NWS TOP · 5 events in 3 counties and zones

4 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: $7,000
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 Jun 26, 1:19 PM CST, 4 hours 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 26, 1:19 PM CST, 4 hours 12 minutes before

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

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 26, 4:40 PM CST, 51 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
540 PM CDT WED JUN 26 2002

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

0525 PM    1 S CORNING               KS    .88 INCH HAIL
06/26/02   NEMAHA

Local storm report, Jun 26, 4:50 PM CST, 41 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
550 PM CDT WED JUN 26 2002

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

0549 PM    3 S HIAWATHA              KS    .75 INCH HAIL
06/26/02   BROWN                           DIME SIZE HAIL COVERING
                                           THE GROUND. REPORTED BY
                                           SHERIFF.

Local storm report, Jun 26, 5:10 PM CST, 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
610 PM CDT WED JUN 26 2002

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

0555 PM    6 WSW HIAWATHA            KS    1 INCH HAIL
06/26/02   BROWN                           QUARTER SIZE HAIL
                                           REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

0602 PM    POWHATTAN                 KS    1 INCH HAIL
06/26/02   BROWN                           REPORTED BY SPOTTER.

Local storm report, Jun 26, 5:19 PM CST, 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
619 PM CDT WED JUN 26 2002

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

0610 PM    7 E HOLTON                KS    .88 INCH HAIL
06/26/02   JACKSON                         REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

0610 PM    7 E HOLTON                KS    70 MPH TSTM GUST
06/26/02   JACKSON                         REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

Local storm report, Jun 26, 5:23 PM CST, 8 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
623 PM CDT WED JUN 26 2002

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

0622 PM    DENISON                   KS    60 MPH TSTM GUST
06/26/02   JACKSON                         REPORTED BY SPOTTER.

Local storm report, Jun 26, 5:29 PM CST, 2 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
629 PM CDT WED JUN 26 2002

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

0621 PM    2 NW VALLEY FALLS         KS    60+ MPH TSTM GUST
06/26/02   JEFFERSON

0625 PM    DENISON                   KS    60+ MPH TSTM GUST
06/26/02   JACKSON                         26 INCH TREE
                                           SNAPPED/VISIBILITY NEAR
                                           ZERO IN HEAVY RAIN AND
                                           SMALL HAIL

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:28 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: June 26, 5:31 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County, 3 mi NE of Valley Falls
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.367, -95.433

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: June 26, 5:36 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County, 2 mi SW of Valley Falls
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.317, -95.500

Lightning, Jackson

When: June 26, 5:36 PM CST
Where: Jackson County, Whiting
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.417, -95.794 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning struck a house and started a fire that destroyed a stove and left minor smoke damage in the house.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: June 26, 5:40 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County, 3 mi E of Meriden
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 39.183, -95.517

Thunderstorm Wind, Shawnee

When: June 26, 5:40 PM CST
Where: Shawnee County, 5 mi N of Topeka
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.117, -95.683

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.
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, 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: 5298515, 5298516, 5298517, 5298518, 5298519.