Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Omaha, NE

May 4, 2003Mills County, Pottawattamie County, Iowa; Douglas County, Sarpy County, Nebraska

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at May 4, 2003, 4:21 PM CDT for Mills County, Pottawattamie County, Iowa; Douglas County, Sarpy County, Nebraska. It was in force for 54 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, 4:21 PM CDT (21:21 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 2003, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Omaha, NE
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Mills County, IA, Pottawattamie County, IA, Douglas County, NE, Sarpy County, NE

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:22 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 4, 12:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 38 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2003-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2003-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 375 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
558 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
375 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
509 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.

772 
WFUS53 KOAX 042121
TOROAX
IAC129-155-NEC055-153-042215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
420 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  DOUGLAS COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF OMAHA
  SARPY COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA
  MILLS COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST IOWA
  POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST IOWA

* UNTIL 515 PM CDT

* AT 417 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE STORM WITH A POSSIBLE   
TORNADO. THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF THE STORM WAS NEAR 
PAPILLION...MOVING   EAST AT 35 MPH.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF
THIS TORNADO GO BELOW GROUND LEVEL IF POSSIBLE. OTHERWISE GO TO A
SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...GET TO A BASEMENT IF ONE IS
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET.

LAT...LON 4127 9616 4108 9606 4112 9562 4143 9565

$$

ERVIN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 3:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXFremont33 min
May 4, 4:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXPage43 min
May 4, 4:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXMills, Pottawattamie63 min
May 4, 4:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXHarrison26 min
May 4, 4:45 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXFremont45 min
May 4, 5:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXMills, Montgomery, Pottawattamie31 min
May 4, 5:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXFremont, Page51 min
May 4, 5:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXMontgomery29 min
May 4, 2:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXJohnson26 min
May 4, 2:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXOtoe31 min
May 4, 2:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXBoone, Platte47 min
May 4, 2:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXButler, Seward44 min
May 4, 3:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXNemaha41 min
May 4, 3:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXSaunders29 min
May 4, 4:32 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXWashington28 min
May 4, 4:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXCuming, Thurston40 min
May 4, 12:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXColfax, Stanton29 min
May 4, 1:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXPlatte60 min
May 4, 1:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXColfax, Stanton45 min
May 4, 2:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXPlatte30 min
May 4, 2:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXColfax, Platte34 min
May 4, 2:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXButler54 min
May 4, 2:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXSaunders47 min
May 4, 2:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXColfax, Cuming, Dodge, Stanton46 min
May 4, 3:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXThurston42 min
May 4, 3:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXPlatte28 min
May 4, 3:18 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningOAXPlatte6 hr
May 4, 3:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXDouglas, Sarpy54 min
May 4, 3:28 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXSaunders32 min
May 4, 3:35 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXDouglas, Sarpy55 min
May 4, 3:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXBurt, Cuming, Dodge, Washington38 min
May 4, 4:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXCass44 min
May 4, 4:23 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXCass37 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 2003Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 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.