Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Dodge City, KS

May 15, 2003Seward County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at May 15, 2003, 8:51 PM CDT for Seward County, Kansas. It was in force for 39 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, 8:51 PM CDT (01:51 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 2003, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Seward County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:54 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, 6:50 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 118 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, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 2003-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 351 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, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 2003-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 417 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
351 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-254 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
723 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
417 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
695 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.

257 
WFUS53 KDDC 160151
TORDDC
KSC175-160230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
850 PM CDT THU MAY 15 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN SEWARD COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS

* UNTIL 930 PM CDT

* AT 850 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED AND
  SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LIBERAL. THE
  TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  LIBERAL AT 905 PM CDT
  HAYNE AT 925 PM CDT
  KISMET AT 930 PM CDT

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. MOVE INTO YOUR TORNADO SHELTER NOW IF NO
UNDERGROUND SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...MOVE INTO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY STRUCTURE. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. ABANDON
MOBILE HOMES...WHICH OFFER NO PROTECTION FROM A TORNADO.

LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE ALSO EXPECTED WITH
THIS STORM.

LAT...LON 3700 10107 3701 10065 3722 10064 3711 10105

&

$$

UMSCHEID

The office that day

Everything else NWS Dodge City, KS issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 7:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCKearny45 min
May 15, 7:32 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCHaskell, Seward28 min
May 15, 8:01 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCMeade, Seward44 min
May 15, 8:48 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCMeade42 min
May 15, 9:33 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCMeade42 min
May 15, 10:13 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDDCMeade, Seward3 hr
May 15, 10:19 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCClark, Ford, Meade26 min
May 15, 10:22 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCClark, Meade23 min
May 15, 10:47 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCClark, Meade43 min
May 15, 11:07 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCClark, Ford, Meade38 min
May 15, 11:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCComanche, Kiowa45 min
May 15, 11:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFord32 min
May 16, 12:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCBarber, Pratt46 min
May 16, 12:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCKiowa23 min
May 16, 12:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEdwards26 min
May 16, 12:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCBarber, Pratt, Stafford48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 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.