Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 51, NWS North Platte, NE

July 3, 2003Cherry County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at Jul 3, 2003, 8:21 PM MDT for Cherry County, Nebraska. It was in force for 39 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 3, 2003, 8:21 PM MDT (02:21 UTC)
Expired: Jul 3, 2003, 9:00 PM MDT
In force: 39 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), 117 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:22 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

Rapid City, SD (KUNR), launched 00:00Z, 2.4 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-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: 299 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -115 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2699 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 53 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 228 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KLBF 040221
TORLBF
NEC031-040300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
821 PM MDT THU JUL 3 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 900 PM MDT(1000 PM CDT)

* AT 817 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG
  ROTATION 11 MILES NORTH OF ELI...OR ABOUT 42 MILES NORTHEAST OF
  GORDON...MOVING SOUTH AT 25 MPH. THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
  A TORNADO AT ANY TIME.

* THE DEVELOPING TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  3 MILES EAST OF ELI AROUND 840 PM MDT

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND POTENTIALLY LIFE THREATENING
SITUATION. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO...TAKE 
COVER IMMEDIATELY. THIS STORM HAS HAD A HISTORY OF PRODUCING A 
TORNADO. 

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.

LAT...LON 4298 10162 4273 10148 4273 10076 4298 10087

$$

KAR

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 3, 6:04 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Lincoln, Logan	11 min
Jul 3, 6:19 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Brown	56 min
Jul 3, 6:42 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Rock	63 min
Jul 3, 8:57 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Cherry	33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 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.