Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Amarillo, TX

May 15, 2003Sherman County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at May 15, 2003, 5:56 PM CDT for Sherman County, Texas. It was in force for 64 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, 5:56 PM CDT (22:56 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 2003, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Amarillo, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Sherman County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 134 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:57 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

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 135 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 12:00Z on 2003-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 95 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 12:00Z on 2003-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 88 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
95 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-275 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1781 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

735 
WFUS54 KAMA 152256
TORAMA
TXC421-160000-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN SHERMAN COUNTY IN THE PANHANDLE OF TEXAS

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT

* AT 555 PM CDT...A LARGE TORNADO WAS REPORTED OVER NORTHEASTERN DALLAM
  COUNTY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THE TORNADO WILL PASS OVER HIGHWAY 
  287 IN FAR NORTHWEST SHERMAN COUNTY.

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. IF YOU
ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS LARGE AND DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO...TAKE COVER
NOW

LAT...LON 3646 10213 3632 10215 3638 10165 3650 10167

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 3:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMADallam54 min
May 15, 4:29 PM CDTTornado WarningAMADallam, Hartley46 min
May 15, 5:13 PM CDTTornado WarningAMADallam62 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 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.