Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 5, NWS La Crosse, WI

July 14, 2003Dodge County, Minnesota

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this tornado warning at Jul 14, 2003, 9:48 PM CDT for Dodge County, Minnesota. It was in force for 42 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
Jul 14, 2003, 9:48 PM CDT (02:48 UTC)
Expired
Jul 14, 2003, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS La Crosse, WI
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Dodge County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:48 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
Jul 14, 7:40 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 108 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2003-07-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 438 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2003-07-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 357 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 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
438 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
837 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
357 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
466 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
5.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

953 
WFUS53 KARX 150248
TORARX
MNC039-150330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
947 PM CDT MON JUL 14 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LA CROSSE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  DODGE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 1030 PM CDT

* AT 947 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR DETECTED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CLAREMONT...OR ABOUT 10
  MILES WEST OF DODGE CENTER...MOVING EAST AT 55 MPH. THIS TORNADO
  WARNING IS AN UPGRADE FROM THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED
  FOR DODGE COUNTY.

* THE DEVELOPING TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  NEAR CLAREMONT AT 950 PM...
  NEAR HAYFIELD AT 1000 PM CDT...
  NEAR OSLO AT 1015 PM CDT...

WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED BASED ON RADAR...IT MEANS THAT
STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY NOT BE
OCCURRING WHEN THE WARNING IS ISSUED...BUT ONE IS EXPECTED TO
DEVELOP. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER
IN A BASEMENT OR IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. GO TO THE BASEMENT
IF A BASEMENT IS NOT AVAILABLE...GO TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR

LAT...LON 4411 9306 4386 9304 4386 9271 4412 9269

$$

SHEA

The office that day

Everything else NWS La Crosse, WI issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 14, 9:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXDodge52 min
Jul 14, 9:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXMower64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 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.