Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, May 5, 2002

Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, May 5, 2002
Start: 2002-05-05T19:38
End: 2002-05-05T20:05
Location: Kansas

May 5, 2002 · NWS TOP · 5 events in 2 counties and zones

4 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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: None recorded
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 May 5, 3:15 PM CST, 4 hours 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 5, 3:15 PM CST, 4 hours 23 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
415 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 2002

...THUNDERSTORM CHANCES THE MAIN CONCERN THIS FORECAST...

MOISTURE FEEDS OVER THE AREA THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING UNTIL A FRONT
BEGINS MOVING THROUGH THE AREA.  UNTIL THEN...THE COMBINATION OF
WARM AIR AND INCREASED MOISTURE WILL PRESENT PROLONGED THREAT FOR
THUNDERSTORMS BENEATH A SOUTHWEST H500 FLOW.

THE MAIN CONCERN WILL BE HOW MUCH OF A CAPPED ATMOSPHERE IS PRESENT
EACH PERIOD.  THE PRESENCE OF WARM AIR...PLENTY OF MOISTURE...AND AN
UPPER LEVEL TRIGGER WILL SUPPLY THE INGREDIENTS THAT WILL ALLOW ANY
STORM THAT DEVELOPS TO POTENTIALLY BECOME SEVERE.

BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT THE FRONT SHOULD STABILIZE THE AREA AND REDUCE
THE MOISTURE ENDING THE THUNDERSTORM THREAT.  BY FRIDAY...THE SOUTH
FLOW BEGINS TO RETURN...WITH A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS IN THE WARM
ADVECTION.  ANOTHER COLD FRONT ON SUNDAY WILL ALSO BRING A CHANCE
WITH LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE.

ROGERS

.TOP...NONE

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 5, 6:41 PM CST, 57 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
741 PM CDT SUN MAY 05 2002

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

0730 PM    3 SSE TESCOTT             KS    1.75 INCH HAIL
05/05/02   OTTAWA

0730 PM    3 SSE TESCOTT             KS    WIND DAMAGE
05/05/02   OTTAWA                          LARGE TREES UPROOTED

Local storm report, May 5, 6:47 PM CST, 51 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
747 PM CDT SUN MAY 05 2002

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

0735 PM    WAKEFIELD                 KS    .75 INCH HAIL
05/05/02   CLAY                            SPOTTER REPORTED DIME
                                           SIZE HAIL IN WAKEFIELD

Local storm report, May 5, 6:49 PM CST, 49 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
749 PM CDT SUN MAY 05 2002

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

0735 PM    2 SW AUBURN               KS    .75 INCH HAIL
05/05/02   SHAWNEE                         SPOTTER REPORTED DIME
                                           SIZE HAIL

Local storm report, May 5, 6:50 PM CST, 48 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
750 PM CDT SUN MAY 05 2002

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

0742 PM    7 W RILEY                 KS    1 INCH HAIL
05/05/02   RILEY

Local storm report, May 5, 7:10 PM CST, 28 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
810 PM CDT SUN MAY 05 2002

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

0805 PM    3 N BENNINGTON            KS    .75 INCH HAIL
05/05/02   OTTAWA

Local storm report, May 5, 7:16 PM CST, 22 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
816 PM CDT SUN MAY 05 2002

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

0805 PM    WELLS                     KS    1 INCH HAIL
05/05/02   OTTAWA

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 25 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:39 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Thunderstorm Wind, Pottawatomie

When: May 5, 7:38 PM CST
Where: Pottawatomie County, 2 mi W of Wamego
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.200, -96.350

Hail, Pottawatomie

When: May 5, 7:39 PM CST
Where: Pottawatomie County, 6 mi NNW of Wamego
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.283, -96.367

Hail, Dickinson

When: May 5, 7:46 PM CST
Where: Dickinson County, 3 mi N of Talmage
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.083, -97.250

Hail, Pottawatomie

When: May 5, 7:49 PM CST
Where: Pottawatomie County, Westmoreland
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.400, -96.417

Hail, Pottawatomie

When: May 5, 8:05 PM CST
Where: Pottawatomie County, Laclede
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.350, -96.217

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.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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, 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: 5290869, 5290870, 5290871, 5290872, 5290873.