Damaging Winds in Kansas, May 8, 2002

Name: Damaging Winds in Kansas, May 8, 2002
Start: 2002-05-08T20:15
End: 2002-05-08T20:50
Location: Kansas

May 8, 2002 · NWS SGF · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A squall line formed over eastern Kansas Thursday evening and moved through southeast Kansas. It caused roof damage to homes near Fort Scott, and damage to their local airports hanger.

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: $25,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 SGF wrote it up.

A squall line formed over eastern Kansas Thursday evening and moved through southeast Kansas. It caused roof damage to homes near Fort Scott, and damage to their local airports hanger. A home's roof was also blown off near Columbus.

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 Springfield, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 8, 2:04 PM CST, 6 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 8, 2:04 PM CST, 6 hours 11 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
304 PM CDT WED MAY 8 2002

FORECAST CONCERNS TODAY INCLUDE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND HEAVY
RAIN TONIGHT AND ANOTHER ROUND OF RAIN BEGINNING ON FRIDAY.

SURFACE FRONT ROUGHLY ALONG AN OMA-ICT LINE AT THIS TIME.  SATELLITE
IS INDICATING CONVECTION ALREADY BEGINNING TO FIRE ALONG THE FRONT.
UPPER LEVEL NORTHERN TROUGH EXPECTED TO MOVE THE SURFACE FRONT
THROUGH THE AREA OVERNIGHT.  WILL KEEP FLASH FLOOD WATCH GOING
THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS.

EXPECT A SQUALL LINE TO DEVELOP BY EARLY EVENING AND BEGIN AFFECTING
OUR CWA AROUND 00Z.  AVN HAS THE FRONT APPROACHING THE AREA BY 06Z
AND THROUGH BY 12Z.  LOOKS LIKE ONLY ONE ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS TO
DEAL WITH TONIGHT RATHER THAN 2-3.  WHILE RAINFALL AMOUNTS COULD BE
HEAVY...DO NOT ANTICIPATE AS MUCH RAIN AS LAST NIGHT.

ONCE THIS SYSTEM IS THROUGH...THE NEXT CONCERN IS FOR FRIDAY THROUGH
MONDAY.  AVN IS BRINGING A SERIES OF SHORTWAVES ACROSS THE AREA
BEGINNING FRIDAY AFTERNOON.  AS SUCH...WILL INTRODUCE POPS IN FOR
BOTH FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT.  AFTER THAT...DID NOT MAKE TOO MANY
CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED DUE TO ONGOING WEATHER SITUATION.

.SGF...
MO...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 700 AM CDT THURSDAY FOR ZONES MOZ055>058...
MOZ066>071...MOZ077>083...MOZ088>098...MOZ101>106.

KS...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 700 AM CDT THURSDAY FOR ZONES KSZ073...
KSZ097...KSZ101.

GAEDE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 8, 7:00 PM CST, 1 hour 15 minutes before

KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>057-066>069-077>081-088>091-093>095-101>104-
090700-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
800 PM CDT WED MAY 8 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NUMBER 259...IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM CDT THURSDAY MORNING. THIS SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...

IN MISSOURI:

BARRY...BARTON...BENTON...CAMDEN...CEDAR...CHRISTIAN...DADE...
DALLAS...GREENE...HICKORY...JASPER...LACLEDE...LAWRENCE...MCDONALD...
MILLER...MORGAN...NEWTON...POLK...ST. CLAIR...STONE...TANEY...VERNON
AND WEBSTER.

IN KANSAS:

BOURBON...CHEROKEE AND CRAWFORD.

SOME CITIES IN THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH INCLUDE BOLIVAR...
BRANSON...CAMDENTON...FORT SCOTT...JOPLIN...LEBANON...MONETT...MOUNT
VERNON...NEOSHO...NEVADA...OSAGE BEACH...OZARK...PITTSBURG...
SPRINGFIELD AND STOCKTON.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE WEATHER...INCLUDING LARGE HAIL TO THE SIZE
OF QUARTERS...DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH...AND TORRENTIAL
RAINFALL...IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. WHILE SEVERE WEATHER MAY
NOT BE IMMINENT...PERSONS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING
WEATHER CONDITIONS...AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

BOOKBINDER

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 117 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:15 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Bourbon

When: May 8, 8:15 PM CST to 8:20 PM CST
Where: Bourbon County, 1 mi S of Ft Scott
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.817, -94.700

Thunderstorm Wind, Cherokee

When: May 8, 8:50 PM CST
Where: Cherokee County, Columbus
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.167, -94.833

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.

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: 5294138, 5294139.