Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Norman, OK

March 17, 2003Caddo County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this tornado warning at Mar 17, 2003, 3:22 PM CST for Caddo County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 23 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: Mar 17, 2003, 3:22 PM CST (21:22 UTC)
Expired: Mar 17, 2003, 3:45 PM CST
In force: 23 min
Issued by: NWS Norman, OK
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Caddo County, OK

The radar

The Altus AFB radar (KFDR), 83 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Mar 17, 12:45 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 105 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: 264 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -285 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 965 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 119 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 97 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.

020 
WFUS54 KOUN 172122
TOROKC
OKC015-172145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
321 PM CST MON MAR 17 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CADDO COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA

* UNTIL 345 PM CST

* AT 321 PM CST...DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM   
PRODUCING A TORNADO 13 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FORT COBB...  MOVING NORTH 
AT 20 MPH. THE TORNADO WAS REPORTED NEAR THE KIOWA...CADDO COUNTY 
LINE AT 320 PM.

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE FORT COBB AND WASHITA

TAKE COVER NOW. LEAVE 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 AND OUTSIDE
WALLS.

LAT...LON 3496 9867 3490 9860 3498 9829 3515 9837
          3510 9856

$$

CJS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 17, 1:43 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Garvin	47 min
Mar 17, 1:55 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Kiowa	65 min
Mar 17, 2:08 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	McClain, Pottawatomie	52 min
Mar 17, 2:41 PM CST	Tornado Warning	OUN	Kiowa	34 min
Mar 17, 2:48 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Garvin, Stephens	42 min
Mar 17, 2:52 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Cotton	53 min
Mar 17, 2:59 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Washita	61 min
Mar 17, 3:04 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Caddo	56 min
Mar 17, 3:13 PM CST	Tornado Warning	OUN	Kiowa	32 min
Mar 17, 3:33 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Lincoln, Payne	42 min
Mar 17, 3:43 PM CST	Tornado Warning	OUN	Washita	47 min
Mar 17, 3:46 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Cotton	44 min
Mar 17, 4:11 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Caddo	49 min
Mar 17, 4:32 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Canadian	58 min
Mar 17, 4:34 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Cotton	56 min
Mar 17, 4:36 PM CST	Tornado Warning	OUN	Caddo	24 min
Mar 17, 4:40 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Stephens	65 min
Mar 17, 4:54 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Garfield	36 min
Mar 17, 5:00 PM CST	Tornado Warning	OUN	Caddo	30 min
Mar 17, 5:07 PM CST	Tornado Warning	OUN	Canadian	23 min
Mar 17, 5:13 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Comanche	47 min
Mar 17, 5:15 PM CST	Tornado Warning	OUN	Stephens	45 min
Mar 17, 5:29 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Canadian	61 min
Mar 17, 5:32 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Blaine	43 min
Mar 17, 5:32 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Kingfisher	58 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 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.