Tornado and Hail in Oklahoma, June 15, 2002

Name: Tornado and Hail in Oklahoma, June 15, 2002
Start: 2002-06-15T16:54
End: 2002-06-15T17:09
Location: Oklahoma

June 15, 2002 · NWS AMA · 3 events in 1 county or zone

Severe thunderstorms producing large hail and an isolated tornado moved across the eastern Oklahoma panhandle during the early evening hours. No damage or injuries were reported from the tornado.

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: 3

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 AMA wrote it up.

Severe thunderstorms producing large hail and an isolated tornado moved across the eastern Oklahoma panhandle during the early evening hours. No damage or injuries were reported from the tornado.

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 Amarillo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 15, 2:20 PM CST, 2 hours 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 15, 2:20 PM CST, 2 hours 34 minutes before

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
320 PM CDT SAT JUN 15 2002

BUSY WITH GRIDS THIS AFTN SO DISCUSSION WILL BE SHORT. PSBL SIG SVR
WX EVENT...MAINLY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...BEGINNING UPSTREAM
IN CO AND KS AND WILL HEAD SEWD THRU FCST AREA THIS EVENING AND
TNGT. LIKELY POPS ALL ZNS AND SVR WORDING MENTIONED. BREAK ON SUNDAY
AS ATMO RECOVERS WITH SOME MOUNTAIN STORMS TO THE W AND NW...HEADING
SEWD LATE SUN AFTN AND SUN EVENING. SLGHT CHC TO CHC REASONABLE.
LITTLE CHANGE FOR MON AND TUE AS SOME SEMBLANCE OF NW FLOW
CONTINUES. FLOW TRANSITIONS TO MORE OF A SW REGIME WED THRU END OF
WEEK AS TROF BEGINS HEADING INTO PAC NW AND UPPER RIDGE BUILDS
SLIGHTLY INTO AREA WITH AXIS E OF FCST AREA. WILL RETAIN SLGHT CHC
POPS FOR WED THRU SAT AT THIS TIME. WARMING TREND INTO MIDDLE AND
LATTER PART OF NEXT WEEK LOOKS PLAUSIBLE. SVR WATCH BEING ISSUED NOW
SO WILL END.

.AMA...
TX...NONE.
OK...NONE.

ANDRADE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 15, 11:41 AM CST, 5 hours 13 minutes before

OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-152300-

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1241 PM CDT SAT JUN 15 2002

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT ACROSS ALL OF THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES.

AMPLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND A NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL PERSIST
ACROSS THE PANHANDLES THROUGH TONIGHT. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTH
ACROSS THE PANHANDLES LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A WEAK
DISTURBANCE IN THE UPPER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE WILL ALSO MOVE
SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE AREA THIS EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY
BEGUN TO DEVELOP ACROSS WESTERN KANSAS AND EASTERN COLORADO AS
OF EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. AS DAYTIME HEATING CONTINUES...THE
ATMOSPHERE WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY UNSTABLE SETTING THE STAGE FOR
WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP AND MOVE SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE
PANHANDLES THROUGH TONIGHT.

THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL BE VERY LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS. ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH
THESE STORMS...PRIMARILY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING
HOURS. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO TRANSITION INTO A
LARGE COMPLEX THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL AND POSSIBLE FLASH FLOODING...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE EASTERN
HALF OF THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES.

SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ACROSS ALL OF THE
TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND BE READY FOR
QUICK ACTIVATION THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT.

SD

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:48 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Beaver

When: June 15, 4:54 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, 5 mi N of Forgan
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.967, -100.533

Hail, Beaver

When: June 15, 4:59 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, Forgan
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.900, -100.533

Tornado, Beaver

When: June 15, 5:03 PM CST to 5:09 PM CST
Where: Beaver County, 7 mi WSW of Turpin
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.2 mi
Path width: 25 yd
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.833, -101.000

The tornado remained over open country and caused no damage. The tornado path length and width were estimated.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Oklahoma in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Oklahoma, 2002 Warnings in Oklahoma, 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: 5305522, 5305523, 5305521.