1 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 May 26, 12:29 PM CST, 9 hours 44 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 129 PM CDT SUN MAY 26 2002 MAIN CONCERN IS PRECIPITATION CHANCES THROUGH MIDWEEK AND TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE PERIOD... COMBINATION OF WARM ADVECTION...FRONTAL BOUNDARY IN THE AREA...AND UPPER IMPULSES MOVING THROUGH THE FLOW WILL BRING A CHANCE FOR CONVECTION MAINLY DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY MORNING HOURS TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. (SPC HAS SMALL PART OF CWA IN THE NORTHWESTERN COUNTIES OUTLOOKED FOR SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER THROUGH TOMORROW MORNING...AND NOTHING FOR MEMORIAL DAY AND MONDAY NIGHT.) WILL END PRECIPITATION CHANCES OVER NORTHWEST TWO THIRDS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND IN THE SOUTHEAST EARLY THURSDAY. THIS IS IN LINE WITH EARLIER THINKING. EXTENDED GUIDANCE SUGGESTS ANOTHER ROUND OF CONVECTION VISITS THE NEIGHBORHOOD SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY SO WILL INTRODUCE NEW POPS FOR THAT TIME. ON TEMPERATURES...WILL FOLLOW A CLOSE BLEND OF LATEST GUIDANCE WITH CURRENT FORECAST. .TOP...NONE. 34
KSZ008-009-020-021-034-035-270200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 528 PM CDT SUN MAY 26 2002 ...THERE IS A CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS THIS EVENING... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED ACROSS PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS THIS EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS IN NEBRASKA ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE RAPIDLY SOUTHEAST INTO NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS EARLY THIS EVENING. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. AT LATE AFTERNOON...MOIST SOUTH WINDS WERE FEEDING MOISTURE INTO THE NEBRASKA THUNDERSTORMS AND CAUSING OTHERS TO DEVELOP FURTHER SOUTH IN WESTERN KANSAS. THIS MOIST SOUTH FLOW WILL BE THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF THE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES.
KSZ008>010-020>023-034>038-270500- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 854 PM CDT SUN MAY 26 2002 ...THERE IS A CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTH CENTRAL AND PARTS OF NORTHEAST KANSAS THIS EVENING... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED ACROSS PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS AND NORTHEAST KANSAS THIS EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS WILL SPREAD ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS OVERNIGHT. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THIS EVENING...MOIST SOUTH WINDS WERE FEEDING MOISTURE INTO NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS...AND CAUSING THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP OVER THE AREA. THIS MOIST SOUTH FLOW WILL BE THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF THE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES.
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:52 UTC.
1 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rains produced flash flooding with water reported over the roadway at the junction of highways 81 and 36 near Belleville.
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, May 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: 5291454, 5291455.