Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Jackson, KY

March 19, 2003McCreary County, Kentucky

NWS Jackson, KY issued this tornado warning at Mar 19, 2003, 3:35 PM EST for McCreary County, Kentucky. It was in force for 25 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 19, 2003, 3:35 PM EST (20:35 UTC)
Expired
Mar 19, 2003, 4:00 PM EST
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Jackson, KY
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County McCreary County, KY

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:38 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 19, 12:30 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 185 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2003-03-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2003-03-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 70 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
649 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
231 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.

063 
WFUS53 KJKL 192035
TORJKL
KYC147-192100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY
333 PM EST WED MAR 19 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON KY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MCCREARY COUNTY

* UNTIL 400 PM EST

* AT 333 PM EST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH
  A LIKELY TORNADO 4 MILES EAST OF GREAT MEADOWS CAMPSITES...OR 12   
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF WHITLEY CITY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. THIS 
  COORESPONDS TO A REPORT FROM A PUBLIC OBSERVER OF A TORNADO JUST   
  EAST OF THE BLUE HERON CAMPGROUND.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  WHITLEY CITY AROUND 340 PM EST.
  MARSHES SIDING AROUND 345 PM EST.
  PARKERS LAKE AROUND 350 PM EST.
  GREENWOOD AROUND 355 PM EST.

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A
TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE
IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING...IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM EST WEDNESDAY EVENING
FOR SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY.

LAT...LON 3651 8491 3639 8469 3697 8416 3695 8452

$$
DUSTY

The office that day

Everything else NWS Jackson, KY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 19, 1:14 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLWayne46 min
Mar 19, 1:36 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLPulaski84 min
Mar 19, 2:09 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLWayne36 min
Mar 19, 2:51 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLPulaski39 min
Mar 19, 3:26 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLMcCreary49 min
Mar 19, 3:40 PM ESTTornado WarningJKLMcCreary20 min
Mar 19, 4:06 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLLaurel24 min
Mar 19, 4:12 PM ESTTornado WarningJKLLaurel18 min
Mar 19, 4:20 PM ESTTornado WarningJKLLaurel10 min
Mar 19, 4:27 PM ESTTornado WarningJKLLaurel, Rockcastle18 min
Mar 19, 4:49 PM ESTTornado WarningJKLJackson, Owsley26 min
Mar 19, 4:58 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLBath, Menifee, Powell, Wolfe32 min
Mar 19, 5:31 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLPulaski14 min
Mar 19, 5:57 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLRockcastle18 min
Mar 19, 6:16 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLEstill29 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kentucky, 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.