Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 41, NWS Kansas City, MO

May 8, 2003Pettis County, Missouri

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2003, 9:51 PM CDT for Pettis County, Missouri. It was in force for 54 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, 9:51 PM CDT (02:51 UTC)
Expired: May 8, 2003, 10:45 PM CDT
In force: 54 min
Issued by: NWS Kansas City, MO
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Pettis County, MO

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:50 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, 9:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 202 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.

162 
WFUS53 KEAX 090251
TOREAX
MOC159-090345-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PLEASANT HILL HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  PETTIS COUNTY IN CENTRAL MISSOURI

* UNTIL 1045 PM CDT

* AT 945 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THIS
  DANGEROUS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE...OR 10 
  MILES EAST OF WARRENSBURG...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH. LARGE HAIL AND 
  DESTRUCTIVE THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE ALSO LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.

* THIS TORNADIC STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   LA MONTE BY 955 PM CDT.
   DRESDEN BY 1000 PM CDT.
   HUGHESVILLE....NORTH OF SEDALIA....HOUSTONIA BY 1005 PM CDT.    
   LONGWOOD....SMITHTON BY 1015 PM CDT.

IN ADDITION TO THE TORNADO THREAT...THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE DAMAGING 
STRAIGHT LINE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH AND BASEBALL SIZE HAIL. IF 
YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...MOVE INDOORS TO A 
CENTER LOCATION ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. DO NOT 
DRIVE INTO THE PATH OF THIS STORM AND DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER A 
HIGHWAY OVERPASS

LAT...LON 3891 9347 3858 9351 3863 9309 3891 9308

$$

HUDSON

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 8, 7:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Sullivan	34 min
May 8, 8:27 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Bates	63 min
May 8, 8:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Cass	67 min
May 8, 8:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Nodaway	36 min
May 8, 8:54 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Cass	36 min
May 8, 9:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Henry	58 min
May 8, 9:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Johnson	57 min
May 8, 9:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Pettis	47 min
May 8, 9:18 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Johnson	42 min
May 8, 10:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Johnson	30 min
May 8, 10:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Saline	38 min
May 8, 10:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Cooper	58 min
May 8, 10:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Howard	39 min
May 9, 5:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Johnson, Lafayette	52 min
May 9, 6:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Saline	62 min
May 9, 6:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Cass	64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Missouri, 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.