Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 1, NWS North Platte, NE

April 18, 2003Custer County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at Apr 18, 2003, 4:10 PM CDT for Custer County, Nebraska. It was in force for 50 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
Apr 18, 2003, 4:10 PM CDT (21:10 UTC)
Expired
Apr 18, 2003, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS North Platte, NE
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Custer County, NE

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:12 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 nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 72 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 2003-04-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 2003-04-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 329 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
491 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
329 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
414 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 
WFUS53 KLBF 182110
TORLBF
NEC041-182200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
410 PM CDT FRI APR 18 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTH CENTRAL CUSTER COUNTY IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 500 PM CDT

* AT 407 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG
  ROTATION 12 MILES SOUTH OF OCONTO...OR ABOUT 20 MILES EAST OF
  GOTHENBURG...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A TORNADO AT ANY TIME.

* THE DEVELOPING TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF OCONTO AROUND 415 PM CDT

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.

LAT...LON 4099 10001 4086 9984 4105 9939 4133 9940
          4134 9981

$$

JWS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 18, 4:56 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFCuster49 min
Apr 18, 6:27 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFWheeler33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 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.