Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 35, NWS Kansas City, MO

May 8, 2003Atchison County, Leavenworth County, Kansas

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2003, 7:34 PM CDT for Atchison County, Leavenworth County, Kansas. It was in force for 41 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 8, 2003, 7:34 PM CDT (00:34 UTC)
Expired: May 8, 2003, 8:15 PM CDT
In force: 41 min
Issued by: NWS Kansas City, MO
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Atchison County, KS, Leavenworth County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:34 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 8, 1:50 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr
May 8, 4:40 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 61 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1679 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 807 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 247 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 271 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.1
Supercell composite: 9.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

008 
WFUS53 KEAX 090034
TOREAX
KSC005-103-090115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
734 PM CDT THU MAY 8 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PLEASANT HILL HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN ATCHISON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST KANSAS
  NORTHERN LEAVENWORTH COUNTY IN NORTHEAST KANSAS

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT

* AT 731 PM CDT...STORM SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR OZAWKIE AT 
  150TH STREET AND HIGHWAY 59 FALLS...OR 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF 
  OSKALOOSA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50   MPH. LARGE HAIL AND 
  DESTRUCTIVE THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE ALSO LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.

* THIS TORNADIC STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   EASTON KS....CUMMINGS BY 745 PM CDT.
   POTTER BY 750 PM CDT.
   JUST SOUTH OF ATCHISON BY 755 PM CDT.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 3946 9538 3942 9516 3926 9515 3932 9494
          3964 9517

$$

HUDSON

The office that day

Everything else NWS Kansas City, MO issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 8, 7:37 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Linn	53 min
May 8, 8:27 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Linn	63 min
May 9, 6:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Miami	64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes 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.