Alert archive / Texas / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 540

April 23, 200310 counties in Oklahoma; 47 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 23, 2003, 10:30 AM CDT for 10 counties in Oklahoma; 47 counties in Texas. It was in force for 90 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 23, 2003, 10:30 AM CDT (15:30 UTC)
Expired
Apr 23, 2003, 12:00 PM CDT
In force
90 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 57 counties

Beckham County, OK, Custer County, OK, Dewey County, OK, Ellis County, OK, Greer County, OK, Harmon County, OK, Jackson County, OK, Kiowa County, OK, Roger Mills County, OK, Washita County, OK, Armstrong County, TX, Baylor County, TX, Borden County, TX, Briscoe County, TX, Childress County, TX, Coke County, TX, Collingsworth County, TX, Concho County, TX, Cottle County, TX, Crosby County, TX, Dickens County, TX, Donley County, TX, Fisher County, TX, Floyd County, TX, Foard County, TX, Garza County, TX, Glasscock County, TX, Gray County, TX, Hall County, TX, Hardeman County, TX, Haskell County, TX, Hemphill County, TX, Howard County, TX, Irion County, TX, Jones County, TX, Kent County, TX, King County, TX, Knox County, TX, Lipscomb County, TX, Menard County, TX, Mitchell County, TX, Motley County, TX, Nolan County, TX, Ochiltree County, TX, Reagan County, TX, Roberts County, TX, Runnels County, TX, Schleicher County, TX, Scurry County, TX, Shackelford County, TX, Sterling County, TX, Stonewall County, TX, Taylor County, TX, Throckmorton County, TX, Tom Green County, TX, Wheeler County, TX, Wilbarger County, TX

The radar

The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 106 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:33 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 watches that followed

Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 3.5 hours before the alert went out and 211 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-04-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 131 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-04-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 230 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
131 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-181 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
498 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
230 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
254 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

789 
ACUS11 KWNS 231530
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 231530 
OKZ000-TXZ000-231700-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0540
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1030 AM CDT WED APR 23 2003

AREAS AFFECTED...TX PANHANDLE SWD INTO WRN TX

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL 

VALID 231530Z - 231700Z

STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE IN INTENSITY THIS MORNING OVER THE
TX PANHANDLE...WITH ADDITIONAL STORMS DEVELOPING SWD ALONG A SURFACE
BOUNDARY INTO WRN TX.  ONE OR MORE WW/S MAY BE NEEDED BY MIDDAY OR
EARLY AFTERNOON.

TRENDS IN WV IMAGERY/12Z UPPER AIR ANALYSIS SHOW AN UPPER CLOSED LOW
IN THE VICINITY OF THE FOUR CORNERS REGION WITH LARGE SCALE ASCENT
OVER WRN KS/WRN OK WWD TO WRN TX...WHERE UPPER LEVEL /500-250 MB/
FLOW IS DIVERGENT.  SURFACE ANALYSIS/VIS IMAGERY SHOW A WELL DEFINED
BOUNDARY EXTENDING FROM FAR SWRN KS SWD TO JUST W OF AMA TO NEAR
INK...WITH SURFACE DEWPOINTS FALLING INTO THE 20S AND 30S TO THE
WEST OF THIS BOUNDARY.	A WARM FRONT EXTENDED EWD TO JUST S OF CDS
AND INTO NRN TX.  VIS IMAGERY ALSO SHOWS TCU BUILDING SWD FROM THE
ONGOING STORMS OVER THE TX PANHANDLE...ALONG THE SURFACE BOUNDARY
INTO WRN TX /WNW OF LBB/.

AIR MASS WITHIN THE WARM SECTOR CONTINUES TO DESTABILIZE AS VIS
IMAGERY SHOWS CLEARING SOUTH OF A LINE FROM LBB-DYS AND SURFACE
DEWPOINTS RISING INTO THE LOWER 60S...RESULTING IN 100 MB MLCAPE
VALUES OF 1000 J/KG.  AS UVVS INCREASE OVER WRN TX INTO THE EARLY
AFTERNOON WITH THE APPROACHING UPPER LOW...CONVERGENCE WILL INCREASE
ALONG THE BOUNDARY OVER WRN TX TO SUPPORT DEEP CONVECTION.  STRONG
DEEP LAYER SHEAR AND MODERATE INSTABILITY WILL SUPPORT ORGANIZED
SEVERE STORMS.	SHEAR VECTORS NEARLY PARALLEL TO THE BOUNDARY OVER
THE TX PANHANDLE INTO SWRN KS WILL FAVOR A LINE OF STORMS...WHILE A
GREATER CHANCE FOR DISCRETE STORMS FARTHER S WHERE SHEAR VECTORS
CROSS THE SURFACE BOUNDARY.

..PETERS.. 04/23/2003

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

ATTN...WFO...OUN...SJT...LUB...AMA...MAF...

30980196 33070177 35560125 36560079 36329895 34029893
30729983

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 23, 2:58 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHarmon2 hr
Apr 23, 9:55 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Creek and 17 more65 min
Apr 23, 11:50 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCComanche, Cotton, Harmon, Jackson, Tillman6 hr
Apr 23, 1:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Custer and 15 more6 hr
Apr 23, 1:26 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCComanche, Cotton, Harmon, Jackson, Tillman94 min
Apr 23, 2:44 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Custer and 15 more91 min
Apr 23, 3:08 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarter, Comanche, Cotton, Garvin, Jackson, Jefferson and 5 more97 min
Apr 23, 4:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAtoka, Bryan, Carter, Jefferson, Johnston, Love and 3 more6 hr
Apr 23, 5:36 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCotton, Tillman54 min
Apr 23, 5:47 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Comanche and 16 more88 min
Apr 23, 6:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCComanche, Cotton, Stephens, Tillman4 hr
Apr 22, 7:32 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGaines, Martin88 min
Apr 23, 12:04 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAndrews, Armstrong, Bailey, Borden, Briscoe, Carson and 27 more116 min
Apr 23, 1:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBailey, Castro, Cochran, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Hartley and 10 more6 hr
Apr 23, 3:59 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBailey, Castro, Cochran, Deaf Smith, Hale, Hartley and 13 more2 hr
Apr 23, 2:12 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBandera, Crockett, Edwards, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney and 7 more93 min
Apr 23, 2:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCrockett, Edwards, Kimble, Kinney, Mason, Menard and 4 more5 hr
Apr 23, 4:02 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrockett, Edwards, Kimble, Kinney, Mason, Menard and 5 more88 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Texas, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Oklahoma, 2003Every mesoscale discussion 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.