Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Wichita, KS

March 12, 2003Wilson County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at Mar 12, 2003, 7:54 PM CST for Wilson County, Kansas. It was in force for 66 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
Mar 12, 2003, 7:54 PM CST (01:54 UTC)
Expired
Mar 12, 2003, 9:00 PM CST
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Wilson County, KS

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 149 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:56 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
Mar 12, 2:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 166 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 2003-03-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 704 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 2003-03-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 114 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
704 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-99 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
617 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
161 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KICT 130154
TORICT
KSC205-130300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
754 PM CST WED MAR 12 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WILSON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS

* UNTIL 900 PM CST

* AT 754 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 19 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  CHANUTE...OR 5 MILES WEST OF ALTOONA...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. THIS
  STORM COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE
  NEAR NEODESHA AROUND 755 PM CST...
  NEAR ALTOONA AROUND 800 PM CST...

AT 750 PM CST A TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTED A ROTATING WALL 
CLOUD 4 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FREDONIA. 

IF NO UNDERGROUND SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...MOVE INTO AN INTERIOR ROOM
ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY STRUCTURE.

REPEATING...A TORNADO WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR WILSON COUNTY UNTIL
900 PM CST.

LAT...LON 3757 9577 3741 9579 3741 9556 3758 9556

&

$$

/CARUSO

NNNN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wichita, KS issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 12, 6:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTWoodson54 min
Mar 12, 6:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTGreenwood49 min
Mar 12, 6:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTElk56 min
Mar 12, 6:37 PM CSTTornado WarningICTWoodson53 min
Mar 12, 6:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTWilson70 min
Mar 12, 7:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTElk46 min
Mar 12, 7:19 PM CSTTornado WarningICTAllen56 min
Mar 12, 7:25 PM CSTTornado WarningICTWoodson50 min
Mar 12, 7:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTWilson54 min
Mar 12, 8:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTNeosho64 min
Mar 12, 8:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTAllen61 min
Mar 12, 8:29 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTLabette, Montgomery61 min
Mar 12, 8:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTWilson42 min
Mar 12, 8:55 PM CSTTornado WarningICTLabette, Neosho65 min
Mar 12, 9:53 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTLabette52 min
Mar 12, 9:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMontgomery63 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.