Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Louisville, KY

May 11, 2003Mercer County, Kentucky

NWS Louisville, KY issued this tornado warning at May 11, 2003, 5:27 AM EDT for Mercer County, Kentucky. It was in force for 18 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 11, 2003, 5:27 AM EDT (09:27 UTC)
Expired
May 11, 2003, 5:45 AM EDT
In force
18 min
Issued by
NWS Louisville, KY
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Mercer County, KY

The radar

The Louisville radar (KLVX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:29 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 11, 12:20 AM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 00:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 205 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2003-05-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1265 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2003-05-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 411 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1265 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-64 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
897 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
71 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
411 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
392 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.2
Supercell composite
17.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

447 
WFUS53 KLMK 110927
TORLMK
KYC167-110945-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
526 AM EDT SUN MAY 11 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOUISVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MERCER COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL KENTUCKY. THIS REPLACES A SEVERE 
THUNDERSTORM WARNING.

* UNTIL 545 AM EDT

* AT 524 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO OVER ROSE
  HILL...OR ABOUT 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LEXINGTON...MOVING EAST AT 35
  MPH.

* THE TORNADIC STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  HARRODSBURG...SHAKERTOWN...MCAFEE AROUND 535 AM EDT
  BURGIN AROUND 540 AM EDT

LAT...LON 3786 8501 3769 8500 3774 8473 3788 8480

$$
JSD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 11, 2:19 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKOhio41 min
May 11, 2:52 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKBreckinridge, Grayson23 min
May 11, 3:03 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKHardin42 min
May 11, 3:16 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKGrayson29 min
May 11, 3:48 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKHardin32 min
May 11, 3:49 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKHenry26 min
May 11, 4:06 AM EDTTornado WarningLMKHardin24 min
May 11, 4:14 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKGrayson31 min
May 11, 4:15 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKBullitt, Nelson45 min
May 11, 4:20 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKLarue25 min
May 11, 4:23 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKEdmonson, Hart42 min
May 11, 4:43 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKWashington32 min
May 11, 4:54 AM EDTTornado WarningLMKHart36 min
May 11, 5:02 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKLarue, Nelson13 min
May 11, 5:10 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKGreen, Marion, Taylor40 min
May 11, 5:17 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKMercer28 min
May 11, 5:24 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKClinton, Cumberland41 min
May 11, 5:46 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKCasey34 min
May 11, 5:50 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKJessamine30 min
May 11, 5:54 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKFayette36 min
May 11, 6:16 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKLincoln34 min
May 11, 6:48 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKGarrard, Madison37 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.