Alert archive / Kentucky / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 281

May 7, 20035 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 7, 2003, 3:40 AM EDT for 5 states. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 7, 2003, 3:40 AM EDT (07:40 UTC)
Expired
May 7, 2003, 9:00 AM EDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 68 counties

Bell County, KY, Breathitt County, KY, Clark County, KY, Clay County, KY, Elliott County, KY, Estill County, KY, Floyd County, KY, Harlan County, KY, Jackson County, KY, Johnson County, KY, Knott County, KY, Knox County, KY, Laurel County, KY, Lawrence County, KY, Lee County, KY, Leslie County, KY, Letcher County, KY, Madison County, KY, Magoffin County, KY, Martin County, KY, McCreary County, KY, Menifee County, KY, Montgomery County, KY, Morgan County, KY, Owsley County, KY, Perry County, KY, Pike County, KY, Powell County, KY, Pulaski County, KY, Rockcastle County, KY, Wayne County, KY, Whitley County, KY, Wolfe County, KY, Cherokee County, NC, Graham County, NC, Anderson County, TN, Bledsoe County, TN, Blount County, TN, Bradley County, TN, Campbell County, TN, Claiborne County, TN, Cumberland County, TN, Fentress County, TN, Grainger County, TN, Grundy County, TN, Hamblen County, TN, Hamilton County, TN, Hancock County, TN, Jefferson County, TN, Knox County, TN, Loudon County, TN, Marion County, TN, McMinn County, TN, Meigs County, TN, Monroe County, TN, Morgan County, TN, Pickett County, TN, Polk County, TN, Rhea County, TN, Roane County, TN, Scott County, TN, Sequatchie County, TN, Sevier County, TN, Union County, TN, Van Buren County, TN, White County, TN, Lee County, VA, Wayne County, WV

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:39 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.

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 7, 4:01 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningOHXBedford, Coffee, Franklin, Giles, Grundy, Lawrence and 8 more3 hr
May 7, 4:30 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXCumberland, Fentress, Overton, Pickett55 min
May 7, 4:37 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXDeKalb, Van Buren, Warren, White53 min
May 7, 4:57 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXCoffee, Grundy48 min
May 7, 6:04 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMarion26 min
May 7, 6:05 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningOHXBenton, Cannon, Cheatham, Clay, Cumberland, Davidson and 22 more6 hr
May 7, 7:00 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPGraham, Jackson, Macon, Swain4 hr
May 7, 7:12 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningOHXBedford, Coffee, Franklin, Giles, Grundy, Hickman and 8 more6 hr

Discussions around it

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

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 193 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 2003-05-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1519 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 2003-05-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 92 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1519 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
720 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 6, 10:35 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBallard, Crittenden, Henderson, Livingston, McCracken, Union and 1 more115 min
May 7, 12:32 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBreckinridge, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Christian, Daviess and 18 more88 min
May 7, 12:50 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAdair, Allen, Anderson, Ballard, Barren, Bourbon and 58 more6 hr
May 7, 2:16 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Allen, Barren, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Butler and 27 more3 hr
May 7, 2:41 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Allen, Anderson, Barren, Bourbon, Boyle and 49 more3 hr
May 7, 5:26 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBell, Breathitt, Clark, Clay, Elliott, Estill and 27 more2 hr
May 7, 5:55 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCFulton6 hr
May 7, 8:06 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBedford, Benton, Cannon, Carroll, Cheatham, Chester and 40 more114 min
May 7, 8:35 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBedford, Bledsoe, Cannon, Coffee, Cumberland, DeKalb and 14 more5 hr
May 7, 12:49 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClarke, Frederick, Loudoun, Shenandoah, Warren, City of Winchester116 min
May 7, 1:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCArlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Frederick and 21 more6 hr
May 7, 3:21 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArlington, Caroline, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier and 22 more114 min
May 7, 6:07 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArlington, Caroline, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Greene and 13 more53 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Kentucky, 2003Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Tennessee, 2003Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Carolina, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.