Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 8, NWS North Platte, NE

May 4, 2003Cherry County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at May 4, 2003, 4:41 PM MDT for Cherry County, Nebraska. It was in force for 34 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 4, 2003, 4:41 PM MDT (22:41 UTC)
Expired: May 4, 2003, 5:15 PM MDT
In force: 34 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 22:44 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, 10.7 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-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: 399 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -326 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1013 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -32 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

986 
WFUS53 KLBF 042241
TORLBF
NEC031-042315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
540 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 615 PM CDT

* AT 534 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG
  ROTATION 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SPARKS...OR ABOUT 10 MILES EAST OF
  VALENTINE...MOVING SOUTH AT 20 MPH. THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A TORNADO AT ANY TIME.

* THE DEVELOPING TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  FARM AND RANGELANDS OF NORTHEASTERN CHERRY COUNTY
  FARM AND RANGELANDS OF EAST CENTRAL CHERRY COUNTY

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND POTENTIALLY LIFE THREATENING
SITUATION. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO...TAKE 
COVER IMMEDIATELY. THIS REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
CURRENTLY IN EFFECT.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 4299 10021 4299 10056 4250 10056 4251 10019

$$
POWER

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 6:32 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Garden, Grant, Sheridan	58 min
May 3, 7:29 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Grant	46 min
May 3, 7:35 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Garden, Sheridan	55 min
May 3, 8:10 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Grant	50 min
May 3, 8:31 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Garden	59 min
May 3, 8:46 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Cherry, Hooker	59 min
May 3, 9:11 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Arthur	64 min
May 3, 9:32 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Garden	43 min
May 3, 9:58 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	McPherson	62 min
May 3, 10:13 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Arthur	32 min
May 3, 10:18 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Keith, Lincoln	57 min
May 4, 2:01 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Sheridan	59 min
May 4, 3:59 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Cherry	46 min
May 4, 5:19 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Brown	56 min
May 4, 5:21 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Cherry	24 min
May 4, 5:34 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Thomas	41 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.