Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 10, 2003Mahaska County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 10, 2003, 5:43 PM CDT for Mahaska County, Iowa. It was in force for 32 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 10, 2003, 5:43 PM CDT (22:43 UTC)
Expired
May 10, 2003, 6:15 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Mahaska County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:43 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 10, 3:50 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 186 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2003-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2003-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 139 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1102 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
139 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
225 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

746 
WFUS53 KDMX 102243
TORDMX
IAC123-102315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
543 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MAHASKA COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 615 PM CDT

* AT 538 PM...RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH A HISTORY OF 
TORNADOES 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LEIGHTON...OR ABOUT 32 MILES 
NORTHWEST OF OTTUMWA...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE...

  NEAR LEIGHTON AROUND 545 PM...
  7 MILES NORTH OF BEACON AROUND 550 PM...
  6 MILES SOUTH OF NEW SHARON AROUND 555 PM...
  8 MILES NORTH OF KEOMAH VILLAGE AROUND 600 PM...
  7 MILES NORTH OF ROSE HILL AROUND 605 PM AND
  6 MILES SOUTH OF BARNES CITY AROUND 610 PM.

THIS IS A HAZARDOUS SITUATION. SEEK SHELTER IN A BASEMENT...OR IN AN
INTERIOR ROOM. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE OR IN A
CAR...SEEK SHELTER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM SATURDAY EVENING FOR
EASTERN IOWA.

LAT...LON 4150 9289 4121 9290 4128 9245 4150 9243

FORSTER

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 3:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCerro Gordo36 min
May 10, 4:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWayne50 min
May 10, 4:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAppanoose48 min
May 10, 4:46 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAppanoose, Wayne44 min
May 10, 4:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPoweshiek, Tama27 min
May 10, 5:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarion, Wapello34 min
May 10, 5:17 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXMarion28 min
May 10, 5:29 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAppanoose, Davis46 min
May 10, 5:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJasper, Poweshiek29 min
May 10, 5:49 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXPoweshiek26 min
May 10, 5:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXTama33 min
May 10, 5:58 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDavis47 min
May 10, 6:07 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXWapello38 min
May 10, 6:12 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAppanoose, Davis33 min
May 10, 6:14 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXPoweshiek31 min
May 10, 6:22 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXTama23 min
May 10, 6:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk27 min
May 10, 6:44 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDavis46 min
May 10, 6:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBremer23 min
May 10, 6:54 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXBremer36 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 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.