Alert archive / Arizona / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Phoenix, AZ

September 6, 2003Maricopa County, Arizona

NWS Phoenix, AZ issued this tornado warning at Sep 6, 2003, 1:37 PM MST for Maricopa County, Arizona. It was in force for 38 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: Sep 6, 2003, 1:37 PM MST (20:37 UTC)
Expired: Sep 6, 2003, 2:15 PM MST
In force: 38 min
Issued by: NWS Phoenix, AZ
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Maricopa County, AZ

The radar

The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:39 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 nearest sounding before it

Phoenix, AZ (KPSR), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 60 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: 1649 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -81 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1453 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 32 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 
WFUS55 KPSR 062037
TORPSR
AZC013-062115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
135 PM MST SAT SEP 6 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PHOENIX HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTH CENTRAL MARICOPA COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA

* UNTIL 215 PM MST

* AT 124 PM MST...THE PUBLIC REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR WITTMANN 
NORTHWEST OF SUN CITY MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 3392 11248 3378 11261 3360 11238 3378 11224

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Phoenix, AZ issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 6, 1:05 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Gila, Maricopa	55 min
Sep 6, 1:10 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Gila, Maricopa	50 min
Sep 6, 2:03 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Maricopa	57 min
Sep 6, 3:13 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Gila	62 min
Sep 6, 3:16 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PSR	Maricopa	74 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arizona, 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.