Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 81, NWS Fort Worth, TX

May 1, 2003Dallas County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 2003, 3:29 PM CDT for Dallas County, Texas. It was in force for 61 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 1, 2003, 3:29 PM CDT (20:29 UTC)
Expired: May 1, 2003, 4:30 PM CDT
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Dallas County, TX

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:30 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 1, 2:55 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 48 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: 2698 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -157 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 614 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 248 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 240 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.6
Supercell composite: 4.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Fort Worth, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 1, 3:20 PM CDT, 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 1, 3:20 PM CDT, 9 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
320 PM CDT THU MAY 1 2003

UPDATED TO INCLUDE TORNADO WATCH COUNTIES

SHORT RANGE MODELS IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT IN THE NEXT 24
HOURS...DESPITE THEM BEING TOO SLOW WITH FRONTS MOVEMENT TODAY.
THEREFORE...THERE WILL BE SEVERAL CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS THE NEXT
FEW DAYS...SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE...AS SLOWING COLD FRONT IS FORECAST
TO BECOME STATIONARY JUST SOUTH OF METROPLEX LATE TONIGHT...THEN
BEGIN TO MOVE SLOWLY NORTHWARD TOMORROW AFTERNOON. MORNING STORMS
ACROSS THE SOUTH HAVE RESULTED FROM DIFFERENTIAL HEATING AND STRONG
INSTABILITY. AS COLD FRONT AND OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES INTERACT THIS
AFTERNOON/EVENING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE...MAINLY
ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST 2/3RDS TO 1/2 OF OUR CWA. HOWEVER...18Z
SOUNDING STILL SHOWS A PRETTY GOOD CAP. LATEST VIZ SATELLITE SHOWS
CU BECOMING MORE VERTICAL ALONG STALLED FRONT NORTHWEST OF
METROPLEX...WHILE AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY WAS APPROACHING FROM THE
SOUTH. MOISTURE REMAINS SHALLOW...BUT STILL COULD SEE SOME STORMS
BEAK THE CAP AND QUICKLY BECOME SEVERE.

DRY LINE WILL ADD INTO THE MIX TOMORROW AFTERNOON AS MODELS SHOW A
BULGE INTO N TEXAS NEAR THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY. NOT A LOT OF UPPER
LEVEL SUPPORT INDICATED TOMORROW...AND CAP WILL ALSO BE A NEGATIVE
FOR STORMS. STILL...EXPECT INSTABILITY AND CONVERGENCE TO BE
SUFFICIENT TO TRIGGER AT LEAST ISOLATED CONVECTION ALONG DRY
LINE/FRONTAL BOUNDARY...MAINLY LATE IN THE AFTERNOON/EVENING.

WARM FRONT SHOULD MOVE INTO OKLAHOMA ON SATURDAY...BUT SHORT RANGE
MODELS AGAIN SHOW A PRETTY GOOD PUSH ON THE DRY LINE SATURDAY
AFTERNOON. WHILE WE LOSE THE WARM FRONT...WILL WILL BEGIN TO BE
INFLUENCED BY BETTER...ALTHOUGH WEAK...UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS AS H5
TROUGH MOVES CLOSER TO N TEXAS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD AGAIN BE
POSSIBLE WITH THE DRY LINE SATURDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING. A COLD FRONT
WILL FOLLOW THE DRY LINE BY SUNDAY MORNING AND THIS SHOULD ALLOW
TEMPERATURES TO COOL CLOSER TO NORMALS FOR THE FIRST PART OF THE
WEEK. THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL LINGER INTO NEXT WEEK...BUT THESE
SHOULD BE MAINLY LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING STORMS AS H5 FLOW BECOMES
MORE ZONAL.

FCSTID =   80
DFW   64  85  66  86 /  40  30  30  30
ACT   65  89  67  91 /  40  30  30  30
PRX   65  82  62  82 /  40  30  30  30
DTO   63  85  65  86 /  30  30  30  30
TKI   64  83  66  87 /  40  30  30  30
DAL   65  85  66  86 /  40  30  30  30
TRL   65  83  66  86 /  40  30  30  30
CRS   65  86  66  90 /  40  30  30  30
TPL   65  89  68  91 /  40  30  30  30

.FWD...
TX...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 800 PM CDT THURSDAY FOR ZONES TXC027...
TXC035...TXC085...TXC093...TXC099...TXC113...TXC119...TXC121...
TXC133...TXC139...TXC143...TXC147...TXC181...TXC193...TXC213...
TXC217...TXC221...TXC223...TXC231...TXC251...TXC257...TXC277...
TXC281...TXC293...TXC309...TXC333...TXC349...TXC363...TXC367...
TXC379...TXC397...TXC425...TXC439...TXC467.

Hazardous weather outlook, May 1, 10:15 AM CDT, 5 hours 14 minutes before

TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-012100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
1015 AM CDT THU MAY 1 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...
THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT SOUTHEAST OF A GAINESVILLE...TO BRECKENRIDGE LINE. LARGE HAIL
AND DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS...WILL BE THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER
THREATS FROM THESE STORMS.

A COLD FRONT THAT EXTENDED FROM NORTH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA...SOUTHWEST
THROUGH WICHITA FALLS...INTO SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO AT
MIDDAY...WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST TO NEAR A BONHAM...TO FORT WORTH...TO
GOLDTHWAITE LINE BY 6 PM. ALTHOUGH THERE IS A MODERATELY STRONG
CAP THIS MORNING...ADDITIONAL LIFT PROVIDED BY THE FRONT AND HEATING
AHEAD OF THE FRONT...MAY BE SUFFICIENT TO BREAK THE CAP. DUE TO THE
STRONG INSTABILITIES...ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL HAVE THE
POTENTIAL TO BECOME SEVERE...AND PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTH TEXAS
FRIDAY.  THE MAIN THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. IT
APPEARS THAT THE MOST LIKELY AREA FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE NEAR A
STATIONARY FRONT...THAT MAY EXTEND FROM NEAR SULPHUR SPRINGS...TO
DALLAS...AND LAMPASAS DURING THE AFTERNOON.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ALONG AND
SOUTHEAST OF A GAINESVILLE TO BRECKENRIDGE LINE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 1, 3:08 PM CDT, 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
0306 PM CDT THU MAY  1 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0257 PM    LIPAN                     TX   0.75 INCH HAIL
                                          (PEA TO DIME)
05/01/03   PALO PINTO                     REPORTED BY SPOTTER

Local storm report, May 1, 3:14 PM CDT, 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
0306 PM CDT THU MAY  1 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0257 PM    LIPAN                     TX   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/01/03   HOOD                           REPORTED BY
                                          SPOTTER

Local storm report, May 1, 3:15 PM CDT, 14 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
0315 PM CDT THU MAY  1 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0314 PM    HALTOM                    TX   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/01/03   TARRANT                        REPORTED BY OFF DUTY NWS
                                          EMPLOYEE

Local storm report, May 1, 3:21 PM CDT, 8 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
0315 PM CDT THU MAY  1 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0314 PM    HALTOM                    TX   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/01/03   TARRANT                        REPORTED BY OFF DUTY NWS
                                          EMPLOYEE
0315 PM    PARK GLEN OFF OF NORTH TARRANT TX   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/01/03   TARRANT                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

0316 PM    HURST                     TX   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/01/03   TARRANT                        820 AT NORTHEAST MALL

Local storm report, May 1, 3:28 PM CDT, 1 minute before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
0325 PM CDT THU MAY  1 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0324 PM    HURST                     TX   2.50 INCH HAIL
05/01/03   TARRANT                        REPORTED BY OFF DUTY NWS
                                          EMPLOYEE @ NORTHEAST MALL
0326 PM    RICHLAND HILLS            TX   1.50 INCH HAIL
05/01/03   TARRANT                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC

The office that day

Everything else NWS Fort Worth, TX issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 1, 10:40 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	McLennan	65 min
May 1, 10:46 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Lampasas	29 min
May 1, 10:59 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Falls	46 min
May 1, 3:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Hood	44 min
May 1, 3:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Tarrant	38 min
May 1, 3:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Parker	49 min
May 1, 3:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Hood	34 min
May 1, 3:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Tarrant	44 min
May 1, 4:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Johnson	58 min
May 1, 4:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Somervell	53 min
May 1, 4:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Hood	32 min
May 1, 4:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Hood	30 min
May 1, 4:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Hamilton, Mills	52 min
May 1, 4:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Dallas, Tarrant	32 min
May 1, 4:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Hill	55 min
May 1, 4:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Johnson	32 min
May 1, 5:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Dallas, Tarrant	27 min
May 1, 5:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Coryell, Hamilton	52 min
May 1, 5:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Bosque	54 min
May 1, 5:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Hill	59 min
May 1, 5:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Coryell, Hamilton	63 min
May 1, 6:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Bosque	62 min
May 1, 6:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Mills	58 min
May 1, 6:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Hill	43 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 2003 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.