Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 36, NWS Kansas City, MO

May 8, 2003Linn County, Kansas

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2003, 7:37 PM CDT for Linn County, Kansas. It was in force for 53 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, 7:37 PM CDT (00:37 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 2003, 8:30 PM CDT
In force
53 min
Issued by
NWS Kansas City, MO
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Linn County, KS

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:41 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 8, 4:40 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 106 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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2003-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1679 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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2003-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 247 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
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.

535 
WFUS53 KEAX 090037
TOREAX
KSC107-090130-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PLEASANT HILL HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  LINN COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 830 PM CDT

* AT 731 PM CDT...STORM SPOTTERS WERE TRACKING A LARGE AND EXTREMELY
  DANGEROUS TORNADO NEAR COLONY...OR 7 MILES NORTH OF IOLA...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. LARGE HAIL AND DESTRUCTIVE THUNDERSTORM WINDS
  ARE ALSO LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.

* THIS TORNADIC STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   BLUE MOUND BY 755 PM CDT.
   CENTERVILLE KS BY 800 PM CDT.
   MOUND CITY KS....PARKER BY 805 PM CDT.
   PRESCOTT BY 810 PM CDT.
   PLEASANTON BY 815 PM CDT.
   TRADING POST....LA CYGNE BY 820 PM CDT.

A DAMAGING TORNADO HAS BEEN CONFIRMED WITH THIS STORM THIS IS A
LIFE-THREATENING SITUATION. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH...MOVE QUICKLY TO
THE CENTER AREA OF THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING. ABANDON
AUTOMOBILES BUT DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER HIGHWAY OVERPASSES

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 3838 9506 3804 9505 3805 9464 3839 9464

$$

HUDSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 7:34 PM CDTTornado WarningEAXAtchison, Leavenworth41 min
May 8, 8:27 PM CDTTornado WarningEAXLinn63 min
May 9, 6:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXMiami64 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.