Kansas, 2002

Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, May 26, 2002

May 26, 2002 · NWS GID · 24 events in 5 counties and zones

Thunderstorms exited southern Nebraska and spread south across northern Kansas. Most storms produced winds around 60 mph and hail up to the size of golf balls.

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
1
Property damage
$2.0 million
Crop damage
$28 million
Events
24

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 GID wrote it up.

Thunderstorms exited southern Nebraska and spread south across northern Kansas. Most storms produced winds around 60 mph and hail up to the size of golf balls. One storm packed winds in excess of 80 mph around the Portis and Harlan areas. The winds blew over 70 empty train cars and caused extensive crop damage. A passenger in a truck traveling along U.S. Highway 281 was struck by a piece of wood that flew into the window. The man was transported to a local hospital then airlifted to a Wichita hospital for additional treatment. Many areas, especially in Smith and Jewell counties, reported crops as a total loss. The damage in Jewell county was described as being destroyed to "table top" status. Tree limbs, power poles and farm outbuildings were damaged in many locations in the region. Some buildings in Smith Center and Downs sustained damage and windows were broken in Phillipsburg.

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 Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 26, 11:53 AM CST, 5 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 26, 11:53 AM CST, 5 hours 6 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1253 PM CDT SUN MAY 26 2002

...FIRST AND FOREMOST CONCERN IS STORM CHC/S THIS AFTN/TONIGHT
AND THREAT FOR SVR...

LATEST SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS EARNEST MSTR TRANSPORT INTO CNTRL/SW NE
ON NOSE OF STG LL SRLY FLOW INADV OF UPPER TROF SITUATED ALG NE/SD
BORDER AND ASSOCD/SFC TROF OVR NRN NE. PREFNTL AIRMASS ALREADY
QUITE UNSTABLE AND SEEMINGLY PRIMED FOR CONV INITIATION COME LT AFTN.
BEST MSTR FLUX CONCURRENT WITHIN AREA OF BTR PRES FALLS ALG A HLC TO
BBW LINE W/ INCREASING ACCAS FIELD INVOF SFC RIPPLE AND UPPER WV
VCNTY VTN.

SO IT SEEMS STORMS SHLD INITIATE SOMEWHERE N OF BBW OVR TO ONL AND
SWWD ALG DRYLINE ARND 300 PM...SIMILAR TO ETA/META PROG...AND
DEVELOPMENT SWWD ALG SFC THETA GRADIENT. NOCTURNAL LL JET INCREASE
INTO SC NE THIS EVENING WILL LIKELY AIDE IN MCS DVLPMNT OVR NE HALF
OF CWA...SOMEWHAT FURTHER WWD THEN YDA/S MODEL PROGS AND THEN A
PROPAGATION E/SE INTO NE KS LATE. OTHERWISE...APPEARS DRYLINE WILL
REMAIN OUTSIDE CWA WRN BORDER AND HAVE LTL ACTIVITY ASSOCD/W IT HERE
BUT WILL BEAR MONITORING. DEEP LYR SHEAR ALTHOUGH NOT IMPRESSIVE MORE
THEN ENOUGH IN TANDEM W/MODERATE INSTABILITY TO SUSTAIN UPDRAFTS
W/SIG DIRECTIONAL COMPONENT COMBINED W/MID LVL DRYNESS MAKES FOR
MODEST LG HAIL THREAT. FOR MON...APPEARS ANY LINGERING STORMS...
RESIDUAL CLD DEBRIS AND LG SCALE SUBSIDENCE WILL SUBSEQUENTLY KEEP
RENEWED STORM THREAT AT BAY UNTIL MON NIGHT IN ASSOCN/W NXT UPSTREAM
UPPER TROF OVR WA ATTM. GOING TEMPS FOR MON WILL NEED CONSIDERABLE
MODIFICATION DOWNWARD GIVEN ABV EXPECTATIONS. AFT THAT...APPEARS LG
SCALE HGT RISES AND SRN STREAM SPLIT CUTOFF LOW MIGRATING THRU SRN
PLAINS WILL PRETTY MUCH PRECLUDE ANY PRECIP MENTION THE REMAINDER
OF THE WEEK AS TEMPS WARM TO SUMMER LIKE LEVELS W/TUE PD STILL
UNCERTAIN AT THIS POINT AND THEREBY NECESSITATING KEEPING THE GOING
POPS THEN.

.GID...NONE.

TEH

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 26, 12:02 PM CST, 4 hours 57 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-262300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1145 AM CDT SUN MAY 26 2002

...SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT...

THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...SOUTH WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BRING
INCREASING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE INTO THE REGION THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON. ATMOSPHERIC STABILITY WILL CONTINUE TO DECREASE
THROUGH THE AFTERNOON...WITH THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT BECOMING
POSSIBLE BY THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THE EVENING...AS A WEAK COLD FRONT
NEAR THE BORDER REGION OF SOUTH DAKOTA AND NEBRASKA SLOWLY MOVES
SOUTHEAST. IN ADDITION...A MID LEVEL DISTURBANCE THAT KICKED A FEW
SHOWERS OFF THIS MORNING...WILL BE LOCATED OVER THE EASTERN THIRD
OF NEBRASKA...DOWN THROUGH CENTRAL KANSAS...AND WILL ALSO HELP FOCUS
THUNDERSTORM INITIATION.

THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST AREA ARE LIKELY TO FIRST DEVELOP
NORTH OF GREELEY COUNTY AFTER 2 PM...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
STRAIGHT LINE WINDS BEING THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREATS...ALTHOUGH
AN ISOLATED TORNADO IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION...ESPECIALLY EARLY
THIS AFTERNOON.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL BUILD TO THE SOUTHWEST...WITH MOVEMENT OF
INDIVIDUAL STORMS TO THE EAST AT AROUND 25 MPH. INSTABILITY AND WIND
SHEAR SUGGEST THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER TO CONTINUE EAST OF
HIGHWAY 281 THROUGH AROUND 2 AM.

ANOTHER AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE NEAR NORTH CENTRAL
KANSAS THIS EVENING...AS A WEAK DRYLINE MOVING EAST OUT OF THE
COLORADO HIGH PLAINS...PUSHES INTO VERY MOIST UNSTABLE AIR. AGAIN...
THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE FROM LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. THESE STORMS SHOULD MOVE EAST OF THE REGION BY
10 PM.
Special weather statement, May 26, 4:01 PM CST, 58 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-271000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
501 PM CDT SUN MAY 26 2002

...SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL CONTINUE TO BE NEEDED ACROSS PARTS OF THE
AREA THROUGH THIS EVENING...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL
AND SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA UNTIL 800 PM CDT...FOR AREAS ALONG AND
WEST OF A GREELEY TO ALMA LINE.

SOUTH WINDS LATE THIS AFTERNOON WILL CONTINUE TO BRING INCREASING LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE INTO THE REGION THROUGH THE EVENING...WITH INCREASING
INSTABILITY AIDING CONTINUED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT ALONG AND WEST
OF A GREELEY TO HOLDREGE LINE. SOME OF THESE STORMS WILL CONTAIN
LARGE HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS AND PERHAPS A FEW DAMAGING
WIND GUSTS.

A DEVELOPING LOW LEVEL JET THIS EVENING WILL ALLOW STORMS OVER
NORTHERN NEBRASKA TO DEVELOP SOUTHWARD THIS EVENING TOWARDS SOUTH
CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS MAINLY AFTER 700 PM.
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH SOME OF THESE
STORMS LATER THIS EVENING...FOR AREAS WEST OF THE US 81 CORRIDOR.

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 136 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

17 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Osborne

When
May 26, 4:59 PM CST
Where
Osborne County, Natoma
Measured
1.25 in hail
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$1.0 million
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
39.183, -99.017

Hail, Osborne

When
May 26, 6:05 PM CST
Where
Osborne County, Alton
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$30,000
Crop damage
$1.0 million
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.467, -98.950

Hail, Smith

When
May 26, 7:20 PM CST
Where
Smith County, 6 mi N of Bellaire
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$40,000
Crop damage
$2.5 million
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.883, -98.667

Hail, Smith

When
May 26, 7:47 PM CST
Where
Smith County, 5 mi N of Bellaire
Measured
1.75 in hail
Property damage
$25,000
Crop damage
$2.5 million
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.867, -98.667

Hail, Smith

When
May 26, 8:03 PM CST
Where
Smith County, 4 mi NE of Smith Center
Measured
1.75 in hail
Property damage
$30,000
Crop damage
$1.5 million
Reported by
AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates
39.817, -98.733

Hail, Smith

When
May 26, 8:05 PM CST
Where
Smith County, 1 mi N of Lebanon
Measured
2.75 in hail
Property damage
$75,000
Crop damage
$1.5 million
Reported by
AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates
39.833, -98.550

Hail, Jewell

When
May 26, 8:08 PM CST
Where
Jewell County, 5 mi N of Jewell
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.733, -98.150

Hail, Smith

When
May 26, 8:20 PM CST
Where
Smith County, Lebanon
Measured
1.75 in hail
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$1.5 million
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.817, -98.550

Hail, Jewell

When
May 26, 8:25 PM CST
Where
Jewell County, Ionia
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.667, -98.350

Hail, Phillips

When
May 26, 8:35 PM CST
Where
Phillips County, Prairie View
Measured
1.25 in hail
Property damage
$30,000
Crop damage
$1.0 million
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
39.833, -99.567

Thunderstorm Wind, Phillips

When
May 26, 8:50 PM CST
Where
Phillips County, Phillipsburg
Measured
60 kt (69 mph)
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$750,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.750, -99.317

Thunderstorm Wind, Smith

When
May 26, 9:00 PM CST
Where
Smith County, Smith Center
Measured
60 kt (69 mph)
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$1.0 million
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
39.783, -98.783

Hail, Jewell

When
May 26, 9:10 PM CST
Where
Jewell County, Esbon
Measured
1.25 in hail
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$2.0 million
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.817, -98.433

Thunderstorm Wind, Smith

When
May 26, 9:35 PM CST
Where
Smith County, Harlan
Measured
75 kt (86 mph)
Property damage
$1.0 million
Crop damage
$3.0 million
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.600, -98.767

Hail, Jewell

When
May 26, 9:35 PM CST
Where
Jewell County, Ionia
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$30,000
Crop damage
$1.0 million
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.667, -98.350

Thunderstorm Wind, Mitchell

When
May 26, 9:40 PM CST
Where
Mitchell County, Glen Elder
Measured
60 kt (69 mph)
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$750,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.500, -98.300

Hail, Mitchell

When
May 26, 9:45 PM CST
Where
Mitchell County, Cawker City
Measured
1.75 in hail
Property damage
$70,000
Crop damage
$1.5 million
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.517, -98.433

Hail, Jewell

When
May 26, 9:50 PM CST
Where
Jewell County, Jewell
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$30,000
Crop damage
$1.0 million
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.667, -98.150

Thunderstorm Wind, Osborne

When
May 26, 9:55 PM CST
Where
Osborne County, Portis
Measured
75 kt (86 mph)
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$100,000
Crop damage
$3.0 million
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.567, -98.700

Thunderstorm Wind, Mitchell

When
May 26, 10:00 PM CST
Where
Mitchell County, Glen Elder Res
Measured
53 kt (61 mph)
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$500,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.500, -98.383

Thunderstorm Wind, Osborne

When
May 26, 10:15 PM CST
Where
Osborne County, 5 mi S of Downs
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage
$200,000
Crop damage
$700,000
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
39.433, -98.550

Hail, Mitchell

When
May 26, 10:28 PM CST
Where
Mitchell County, Beloit
Measured
0.88 in hail
Crop damage
$250,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.467, -98.117

Hail, Mitchell

When
May 26, 10:40 PM CST
Where
Mitchell County, Beloit
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
39.467, -98.117

Hail, Smith

When
May 26, 10:55 PM CST
Where
Smith County, Smith Center
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
39.783, -98.783

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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, May 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: 5302276, 5302277, 5302278, 5302279, 5302281, 5302280, 5302282, 5302343, 5302344, 5302345, 5302346, 5302347, 5302348, 5302349, 5302350, 5302351, 5302352, 5302353, 5303136, 5303137, 5303138, 5303139, 5303140, 5303141.