Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Northern Indiana

July 20, 2003Branch County, Hillsdale County, Michigan

NWS Northern Indiana issued this tornado warning at Jul 20, 2003, 2:41 PM EDT for Branch County, Hillsdale County, Michigan. It was in force for 64 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 20, 2003, 2:41 PM EDT (18:41 UTC)
Expired: Jul 20, 2003, 3:45 PM EDT
In force: 64 min
Issued by: NWS Northern Indiana
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Branch County, MI, Hillsdale County, MI

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:40 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
Jul 20, 2:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 133 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1593 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 118 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.

092 
WFUS53 KIWX 201841
TORIWX
MIC023-059-201945-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
239 PM EDT SUN JUL 20 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BRANCH COUNTY IN MICHIGAN
  HILLSDALE COUNTY IN MICHIGAN

* UNTIL 345 PM EDT

* AT 239 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 14 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  LITCHFIELD...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
  COLDWATER
  LITCHFIELD
  QUINCY
  ALLEN
  JONESVILLE
  NORTH ADAMS

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. 
STRONG ROTATION IS INDICATED ON RADAR AND A TORNADO COULD OCCUR AT 
ANYTIME. THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. 
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON 
THE LOWEST FLOOR AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA.

LAT...LON 4228 8490 4217 8511 4180 8505 4173 8436
          4206 8436

The office that day

Everything else NWS Northern Indiana issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 20, 3:45 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	IWX	Hillsdale	60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 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.