Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 44, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

July 14, 2003Cottonwood County, Minnesota

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at Jul 14, 2003, 6:09 PM CDT for Cottonwood County, Minnesota. It was in force for 21 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
Jul 14, 2003, 6:09 PM CDT (23:09 UTC)
Expired
Jul 14, 2003, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
21 min
Issued by
NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Cottonwood County, MN

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:12 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
Jul 14, 3:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 146 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2003-07-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 34 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2003-07-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 94 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
34 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-643 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1461 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
94 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

079 
WFUS53 KFSD 142309
TORFSD
MNC033-142330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
607 PM CDT MON JUL 14 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN COTTONWOOD COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 630 PM CDT

* AT 607 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
  A THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO OVER NORTHWEST COTTONWOOD 
  COUNTY...OR ABOUT 16 MILES EAST OF TRACY...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED...
RURAL COTTONWOOD COUNTY THROUGH 620 PM CDT

A TRAINED SKYWARN SPOTTER SPOTTED A BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN...4 TO 5 
MILES SOUTHEAST OF WALNUT GROVE IN EXTREME NORTHWEST COTTONWOOD 
COUNTY...AT NEAR 605 PM. TAKE COVER IN A STURDY BUILDING NOW. MOBILE 
HOMES AND VEHICLES ARE NOT SAFE.

LAT...LON 4425 9538 4407 9540 4403 9486 4425 9484

$$

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 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.