Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 45, NWS Omaha, NE

November 17, 2003Mills County, Iowa

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at Nov 17, 2003, 5:42 PM CST for Mills County, Iowa. It was in force for 33 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
Nov 17, 2003, 5:42 PM CST (23:42 UTC)
Expired
Nov 17, 2003, 6:15 PM CST
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Omaha, NE
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Mills County, IA

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:43 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
Nov 17, 3:45 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 61 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 2003-11-17Temperature 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 2003-11-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 389 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
620 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
389 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
389 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.

000 
WFUS53 KOAX 172342
TOROAX
IAC129-180015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
542 PM CST MON NOV 17 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MILLS COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST IOWA

* UNTIL 615 PM CST

* AT 538 PM CST...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE STORM WITH A DEVELOPING
  TORNADO. THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF THE STORM WAS LOCATED 5 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF PACIFIC JUNCTION...OR ABOUT 17 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
  OMAHA...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  GLENWOOD
  SILVER CITY

TAKE COVER NOW IN A BASEMENT OR IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
LEVEL OF A STRONG BUILDING. CARS AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE
ABANDONED. GO TO A SAFE PLACE NOW.

LAT...LON 4113 9586 4099 9583 4105 9545 4116 9551

$$

DEE

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 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.