Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 236

May 4, 200320 counties in Iowa

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 4, 2003, 5:50 PM CDT for 20 counties in Iowa. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 4, 2003, 5:50 PM CDT (22:50 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 2003, 11:00 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Adair County, IA, Adams County, IA, Appanoose County, IA, Clarke County, IA, Dallas County, IA, Decatur County, IA, Guthrie County, IA, Jasper County, IA, Lucas County, IA, Madison County, IA, Mahaska County, IA, Marion County, IA, Monroe County, IA, Polk County, IA, Poweshiek County, IA, Ringgold County, IA, Taylor County, IA, Union County, IA, Warren County, IA, Wayne County, IA

Warnings issued inside it

11 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 5:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdams54 min
May 4, 5:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXTaylor50 min
May 4, 6:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdair38 min
May 4, 6:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXUnion40 min
May 4, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdair, Madison62 min
May 4, 6:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXTaylor44 min
May 4, 6:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdams41 min
May 4, 7:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDecatur56 min
May 4, 7:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXUnion48 min
May 4, 7:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas25 min
May 4, 7:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWarren34 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 213 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2003-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2003-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 375 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
558 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
375 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
509 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 11:46 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona and 5 more59 min
May 4, 12:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdair, Adams, Audubon, Boone, Carroll, Cass and 18 more6 hr
May 4, 2:58 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Boone, Carroll and 37 more92 min
May 4, 4:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdair, Adams, Appanoose, Cass, Clarke, Davis and 23 more6 hr
May 4, 7:43 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Adams, Appanoose, Cass, Clarke, Davis and 15 more2 hr
May 4, 9:48 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAudubon, Buena Vista, Carroll, Cass, Cherokee, Clay and 17 more117 min
May 4, 12:14 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFremont, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, Taylor2 hr
May 4, 12:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdams, Cass, Fremont, Mills, Montgomery, Page and 2 more6 hr
May 4, 2:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFremont, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, Taylor113 min
May 4, 3:56 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Appanoose, Audubon, Boone, Carroll, Cass and 22 more2 hr
May 4, 5:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAppanoose, Davis, Des Moines, Lee, Van Buren6 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Iowa, 2003Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.