Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Norman, OK

April 15, 2003Beckham County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 2003, 6:47 PM CDT for Beckham County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 28 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
Apr 15, 2003, 6:47 PM CDT (23:47 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 2003, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Norman, OK
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Beckham County, OK

The radar

The Altus AFB radar (KFDR), 133 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:48 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
Apr 15, 2:10 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr
Apr 15, 6:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Fort Sill, OK (KFSI), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 148 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, Fort Sill, OK at 12:00Z on 2003-04-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Fort Sill, OK at 12:00Z on 2003-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 165 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
2644 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
165 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
196 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.

077 
WFUS54 KOUN 152347
TOROKC
OKC009-160015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
646 PM CDT TUE APR 15 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BECKHAM COUNTY IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA

* UNTIL 715 PM CDT

* AT 646 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
  CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 21 MILES WEST OF SAYRE...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE MAYFIELD

A TORNADO MAY FORM AT ANYTIME. TAKE COVER NOW. ABANDON MOBILE HOMES
AND VEHICLES. IF POSSIBLE... MOVE TO A BASEMENT OR STORM SHELTER.
OTHERWISE... MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.
STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 3542 10000 3525 9999 3531 9943 3546 9939

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Norman, OK issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 5:43 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNRoger Mills32 min
Apr 15, 6:10 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNRoger Mills35 min
Apr 15, 6:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBeckham40 min
Apr 15, 6:44 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNDewey, Roger Mills46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 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.