Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Norman, OK

March 17, 2003Comanche County, Stephens County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this tornado warning at Mar 17, 2003, 6:01 PM CST for Comanche County, Stephens County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 29 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, 6:01 PM CST (00:01 UTC)
Expired: Mar 17, 2003, 6:30 PM CST
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Norman, OK
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Comanche County, OK, Stephens County, OK

The radar

The Altus AFB radar (KFDR), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:01 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
Mar 17, 5:50 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 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-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: 67 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -132 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1330 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 234 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 486 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KOUN 180001
TOROKC
OKC031-137-180030-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  STEPHENS COUNTY IN SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA
  COMANCHE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA

* UNTIL 630 PM CST

* AT 601 PM CST...DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
  CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PUMPKIN   
CENTER...MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE BEEN 
REPORTED WITH THIS STORM.

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE MARLOW AND PUMPKIN CENTER

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 3462 9827 3451 9818 3468 9782 3469 9814

$$

CJS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 17, 6:21 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Woodward	54 min
Mar 17, 6:31 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Grady, Stephens	44 min
Mar 17, 6:31 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Kingfisher, Logan	59 min
Mar 17, 6:43 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Cleveland	47 min
Mar 17, 6:59 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Oklahoma	46 min
Mar 17, 7:14 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Grady	61 min
Mar 17, 7:27 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Garvin, McClain	48 min
Mar 17, 7:31 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Kingfisher, Logan	59 min
Mar 17, 7:42 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Lincoln	63 min
Mar 17, 8:13 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Cleveland, McClain	47 min
Mar 17, 8:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Garfield, Noble	45 min
Mar 17, 8:59 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Cleveland	16 min
Mar 17, 9:14 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Noble	61 min
Mar 17, 9:21 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Pottawatomie	54 min
Mar 18, 3:22 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Carter, Love	38 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.