Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 11, NWS North Platte, NE

May 23, 2003Cherry County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at May 23, 2003, 5:31 PM MDT for Cherry County, Nebraska. It was in force for 29 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
May 23, 2003, 5:31 PM MDT (23:31 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 2003, 6:00 PM MDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS North Platte, NE
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Cherry County, NE

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:35 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
May 23, 4:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 186 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 2003-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 50 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 2003-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 46 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
50 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-143 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
557 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
106 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KLBF 232331
TORLBF
NEC031-240000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
528 PM MDT FRI MAY 23 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN CHERRY COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 600 PM MDT(700 PM CDT)

* AT 625 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG
  ROTATION 8 MILES SOUTH OF KILGORE...OR ABOUT 18 MILES WEST OF
  VALENTINE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. RADAR CONTINUES TO INDICATE
  THIS STORM COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME.  WALNUT SIZED HAIL 
  WAS REPORTED NEAR KILGORE.  THIS WARNING EXTENDS THE PREVIOUS 
  WARNING FOR NORTHEAST CHERRY COUNTY.

* THE DEVELOPING TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  6 MILES NORTHEAST OF MERRITT RESERVOIR DAM AROUND 645 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.

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 SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM MDT
FRIDAY EVENING(1100 PM CDT FRIDAY EVENING) FOR NORTHWESTERN NEBRASKA.

LAT...LON 4297 10023 4296 10154 4253 10154 4257 10023

$$
CDC

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 4:27 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFCherry63 min
May 23, 5:00 PM MDTTornado WarningLBFCherry30 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.