Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 14, 2003Blue Earth County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at May 14, 2003, 1:03 PM CDT for Blue Earth County, Minnesota. It was in force for 27 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 14, 2003, 1:03 PM CDT (18:03 UTC)
Expired
May 14, 2003, 1:30 PM CDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Blue Earth County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:06 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

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 94 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2003-05-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2003-05-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 29 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-38 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
579 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
71 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

487 
WFUS53 KMPX 141803
TORMPX
MNC013-141830-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
101 PM CDT WED MAY 14 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BLUE EARTH COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 130 PM CDT

* AT 101 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A STORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
  TORNADO 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LAKE CRYSTAL...OR ABOUT 12 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF MANKATO. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTH-NORTHEAST AT
  15 MPH...TOWARD THE WEST SIDE OF MANKATO.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
  GOOD THUNDER.
  LAKE CRYSTAL.
  MANKATO.
  MAPLETON.
  SKYLINE.
  ST CLAIR.

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

LAT...LON 4411 9432 4388 9397 4414 9381 4419 9414

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 14, 1:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBrown, Nicollet47 min
May 14, 2:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBlue Earth50 min
May 14, 2:48 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXBlue Earth, Le Sueur27 min
May 14, 3:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBlue Earth38 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 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.