Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 73, NWS Memphis, TN

May 5, 2003Dyer County, Obion County, Tennessee

NWS Memphis, TN issued this tornado warning at May 5, 2003, 8:01 PM CDT for Dyer County, Obion County, Tennessee. 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 5, 2003, 8:01 PM CDT (01:01 UTC)
Expired: May 5, 2003, 8:30 PM CDT
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Memphis, TN
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Dyer County, TN, Obion County, TN

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:00 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 5, 2:35 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 167 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: 1533 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 824 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 91 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 202 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 115 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.3
Supercell composite: 4.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KMEG 060101
TORMEM
TNC045-131-060130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
800 PM CDT MON MAY 5 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN DYER COUNTY IN NORTHWEST TENNESSEE
  SOUTHERN OBION COUNTY IN NORTHWEST TENNESSEE

* UNTIL 830 PM CDT.

* AT 755 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 3 MILES NORTHWEST
  OF MILLSFIELD...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

* CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO THROUGH 830 PM CDT INCLUDE...
  NEWBERN...
  TRIMBLE...OBION...

.IF YOU ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...TAKE COVER IN AN INTERIOR
ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. PROTECT YOUR BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

.STAY TUNED TO THIS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROADCAST FOR THE LATEST
UPDATES AND INFORMATION. TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER ONLY...CALL 1 800 4
3 2 0 8 7 5.

LAT...LON 3628 8947 3610 8945 3611 8917 3620 8917
          3621 8897 3630 8896

The office that day

Everything else NWS Memphis, TN issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 5, 7:12 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Gibson	33 min
May 5, 7:19 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Carroll	56 min
May 5, 7:22 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	Dyer	113 min
May 5, 7:30 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Gibson	45 min
May 5, 7:48 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Weakley	27 min
May 5, 8:11 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	Henry	2 hr
May 6, 1:53 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Fayette, Shelby	52 min
May 6, 4:27 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	Hardeman, McNairy	2 hr
May 6, 4:58 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	Fayette, Shelby	2 hr
May 6, 5:02 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	Hardin	118 min
May 6, 6:25 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	Hardeman, McNairy	95 min
May 6, 6:54 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	Hardin	66 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Tennessee, 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.