Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Amarillo, TX

May 15, 2003Cimarron County, Oklahoma

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at May 15, 2003, 8:00 PM CDT for Cimarron County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 60 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 15, 2003, 8:00 PM CDT (01:00 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 2003, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Amarillo, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Cimarron County, OK

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 190 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:03 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 15, 1:55 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr
May 15, 6:50 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 191 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2003-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2687 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2003-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 213 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
2687 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-75 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1311 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
82 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
213 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
482 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
4.0
Supercell composite
19.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

808 
WFUS54 KAMA 160100
TORAMA
OKC025-160200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
759 PM CDT THU MAY 15 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN CIMARRON COUNTY IN THE PANHANDLE OF OKLAHOMA

* UNTIL 900 PM CDT

* AT 759 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THE MOST DANGEROUS
  PORTION OF THE STORM WAS LOCATED 11 MILES WEST OF KEYES...OR ABOUT
  10 MILES NORTHEAST OF BOISE CITY...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED BY THE STORM INCLUDE...
  KEYES...AND STURGIS

A TORNADO MAY FORM AT ANY TIME-TAKE COVER NOW ABANDON MOBILE HOMES
AND VEHICLES FOR MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. AVOID WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 3688 10261 3674 10239 3650 10205 3730 10215

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Amarillo, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 7:14 PM CDTTornado WarningAMATexas61 min
May 15, 8:14 PM CDTTornado WarningAMATexas61 min
May 15, 9:04 PM CDTTornado WarningAMABeaver56 min
May 15, 9:57 PM CDTTornado WarningAMABeaver63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 2003Every tornado warning in 2003Tornadoes in 2003

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.