Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 249, NWS Hastings, NE

August 18, 2003Osborne County, Kansas

NWS Hastings, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 18, 2003, 4:13 PM CDT for Osborne County, Kansas. It was in force for 62 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
Aug 18, 2003, 4:13 PM CDT (21:13 UTC)
Expired
Aug 18, 2003, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Hastings, NE
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Osborne County, KS

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:16 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 18, 2:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 203 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2003-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1244 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2003-08-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 313 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1244 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-182 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1927 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
313 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
626 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.

000 
WUUS53 KGID 182113
SVRGID
KSC141-182215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
413 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  OSBORNE COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 515 PM CDT

* AT 411 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DESTRUCTIVE WINDS
  IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH.  THESE STORMS WERE LOCATED ALONG A LINE
  EXTENDING FROM 11 MILES SOUTH OF ALTON TO 6 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
  DOWNS...OR ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 36 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
  PHILLIPSBURG TO 44 MILES WEST OF CONCORDIA...AND MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 20 MPH.

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR...
  OSBORNE... AND 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF ALTON AT 430 PM CDT...
  DOWNS AT 445 PM CDT...

DOPPLER RADAR HAS INDICATED SOME WEAK ROTATION WITHIN THIS STORM.
WHILE NOT IMMEDIATELY LIKELY...A TORNADO MAY STILL DEVELOP. IF A
TORNADO IS SPOTTED...ACT QUICKLY AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IN A
STURDY STRUCTURE...SUCH AS A BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR ROOM.

LAT...LON 3953 9901 3916 9899 3916 9854 3953 9852

$$

16

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 Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 18, 2:27 PM CDT, 1 hour 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 2:27 PM CDT, 1 hour 46 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
227 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003

...CONVECTION THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS THE MAIN CONCERN...

PATTERN HAS TRANSITIONED TO UPPER LOW ACROSS THE CENTRAL ROCKIES
WITH SHORTWAVE ENERGY ROTATING AROUND LOW AND LIFTING NORTHEAST ONTO
THE PLAINS.  UPPER RIDGE AXIS WAS LOCATED FM MN TO LA.  AT THE
SFC... SFC LOW WAS CENTERED IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA WITH SFC
TROF AXIS EXTENDING SOUTH THROUGH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.

TSTMS HAD BEEN FAIRLY ISOLATED THIS MORNING...BUT COVERAGE HAS
GRADUALLY INCREASED DURING THE LAST HOUR AHEAD OF SFC BOUNDARY.
LAPS DATA INDICATES SFC BASED CAPES OF 3000-4000J/KG WITH LITTLE CIN
ACROSS EASTERN HALF OF CWA.  SEVERE TSTM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR EASTERN
COUNTIES REMAINDER OF AFTN/EVE WITH WIND/HAIL THE PRIMARY HAZARD.

SHOULD SEE A BREAK IN CONVECTION LATER THIS EVENING AS INITIAL WAVE
DEPARTS...THEN CONVECTION SHOULD REFIRE TONIGHT WITH APPROACH OF
NEXT MID LEVEL WAVE...AND INCREASING LLVL JET TONIGHT TO 30-40KTS.
TUESDAY SHLD BE SIMILAR TO THIS AFTN WITH CONVECTION WEAKENING IN
MORNING...THEN REDEVELOPING AFTN/EVE TIME FRAME.  TSTMS CONTINUE
TUESDAY NIGHT AIDED BY UPPER SUPPORT AS UPPER WAVE TRACKS EAST
ACROSS NEB/SD.  SFC BOUNDARY PUSHES EAST TUE NIGHT/WED WITH DRY AIR
ARRIVING WEST/EAST ALTHOUGH HAVE LINGERED POPS SOUTHEAST INTO WED
BEFORE TROF AXIS PASSES.

HGHTS RISE REST OF THE WEEK AS UPPER RIDGE EXPANDS ONTO THE PLAINS.
DRY AND WARM WEATHER FORECAST THROUGH THE EXTENDED.

.GID...NONE.

FAY
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 18, 2:08 PM CDT, 2 hours 5 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-191200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
208 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND
PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE COMMON THIS
AFTERNOON AHEAD OF A SURFACE TROUGH LOCATED ACROSS CENTRAL
NEBRASKA AND KANSAS.  THE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WILL ALSO BE AIDED
BY AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING EAST FROM THE ROCKIES.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE INTO THE EVENING HOURS...
ESPECIALLY IN LOCATIONS ALONG AND EAST OF HIGHWAY 281 WHERE A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM.  HAIL...DAMAGING
WINDS AND LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE THE PRIMARILY HAZARDS.
THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL DIMINISH AROUND SUNSET...BUT MAY FORM AGAIN
TOWARD SUNRISE TUESDAY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE TUESDAY
INTO TUESDAY NIGHT AS THE UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVES ACROSS THE
AREA.  WINDS ALOFT WILL REMAIN WEAK BUT THE ATMOSPHERE MAY BECOME
MORE STRONGLY UNSTABLE THAN ON MONDAY.  THIS MAY ALLOW AN ISOLATED
STORM OR TWO TO BECOME STRONG OR SEVERE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL
NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

MORITZ/FAY

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 18, 3:15 PM CDT, 58 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
315 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003

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

0200 PM    PORTIS                    KS   .75 INCH HAIL
08/18/03   OSBORNE                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

0250 PM    16 S OSBORNE              KS   60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/18/03   OSBORNE                        TREES BLOWN DOWN.
                                          REPORTED BY SPOT
                                          WEATHER OBSERVER.
Local storm report, Aug 18, 3:24 PM CDT, 49 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
324 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003

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

0200 PM    PORTIS                    KS   .75 INCH HAIL
08/18/03   OSBORNE                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

0220 PM    8 S SMITH CENTER          KS   60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/18/03   SMITH                          SEMI TRACTOR TRAILER
                                          BLOWN OVER. REPORTED BY
                                          SPOT WEATHER OBSERVER.

0240 PM    RED CLOUD                 NE   60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/18/03   WEBSTER                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

0240 PM    JEWELL                    KS   60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/18/03   JEWELL                         REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.  3 INCH
                                          DIAMETER TREE BRANCHES
                                          DOWN.

0240 PM    RED CLOUD                 NE   .75 INCH HAIL
08/18/03   WEBSTER                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

0250 PM    16 S OSBORNE              KS   60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/18/03   OSBORNE                        TREES BLOWN DOWN.
                                          REPORTED BY SPOT
                                          WEATHER OBSERVER.
Local storm report, Aug 18, 3:57 PM CDT, 16 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
357 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003

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

0340 PM    5 E EDGAR                 NE   60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/18/03   CLAY                           8 TO 10 INCH DIAMETER
                                          TREE LIMBS DOWNED BY
                                          THUNDERSTORM WIND
                                          GUSTS. REPORTED BY SPOT
                                          WEATHER OBSERVER.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Hastings, NE issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 18, 2:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDOsborne, Smith44 min
Aug 18, 2:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDJewell52 min
Aug 18, 2:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDOsborne59 min
Aug 18, 4:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDRooks39 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 2003Every 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.