Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 5, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 4, 2003Saint Francois County, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at May 4, 2003, 11:43 PM CDT for Saint Francois County, Missouri. It was in force for 47 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, 11:43 PM CDT (04:43 UTC)
Expired: May 5, 2003, 12:30 AM CDT
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS St. Louis, MO
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Saint Francois County, MO

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 94 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:45 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 4, 10:40 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 306 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: 5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 434 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 408 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 531 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

696 
WFUS53 KLSX 050443
TORLSX
MOC187-050530-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1143 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

* UNTIL 1230 AM CDT

* AT 1143 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  BISMARCK. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH...AND MAY PRODUCE A
  TORNADO AT ANY TIME

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  LEADWOOD
  FRANKCLAY
  LEADINGTON
  PARK HILLS
  DESLOGE
  DOE RUN
  FARMINGTON
  LIBERTYVILLE

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...SEEK SHELTER NOW MOVE TO A
BASEMENT...UNDERGROUND STORM SHELTER...OR AN INTERIOR ROOM OR HALLWAY
ON THE LOWEST LEVEL OF A STURDY BUILDING.

THIS STORM WILL ALSO PRODUCE LARGE DESTRUCTIVE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.

LAT...LON 3795 9065 3772 9066 3767 9020 3800 9060

$$
FG

The office that day

Everything else NWS St. Louis, MO issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 4, 9:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Gasconade	31 min
May 4, 10:40 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Crawford	50 min
May 4, 11:09 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Iron, Washington	51 min
May 4, 11:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Sainte Genevieve	47 min
May 5, 2:56 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Iron, Reynolds	49 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Missouri, 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.