Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 73

March 25, 20037 counties in Arkansas; 5 counties in Oklahoma; 32 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Mar 25, 2003, 3:05 PM CST for 7 counties in Arkansas; 5 counties in Oklahoma; 32 counties in Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 25, 2003, 3:05 PM CST (21:05 UTC)
Expired
Mar 25, 2003, 9:00 PM CST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 44 counties

Howard County, AR, Little River County, AR, Montgomery County, AR, Pike County, AR, Polk County, AR, Scott County, AR, Sevier County, AR, Choctaw County, OK, Latimer County, OK, LeFlore County, OK, McCurtain County, OK, Pushmataha County, OK, Anderson County, TX, Bosque County, TX, Bowie County, TX, Camp County, TX, Collin County, TX, Coryell County, TX, Dallas County, TX, Delta County, TX, Ellis County, TX, Falls County, TX, Fannin County, TX, Franklin County, TX, Freestone County, TX, Henderson County, TX, Hill County, TX, Hopkins County, TX, Hunt County, TX, Kaufman County, TX, Lamar County, TX, Leon County, TX, Limestone County, TX, McLennan County, TX, Morris County, TX, Navarro County, TX, Rains County, TX, Red River County, TX, Rockwall County, TX, Smith County, TX, Titus County, TX, Upshur County, TX, Van Zandt County, TX, Wood County, TX

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:04 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 25, 3:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAChoctaw45 min
Mar 25, 3:59 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDFannin, Lamar46 min
Mar 25, 4:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDBell, McLennan57 min
Mar 25, 5:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDMcLennan63 min
Mar 25, 5:37 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVRed River23 min
Mar 25, 5:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDFalls64 min
Mar 25, 5:59 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVMcCurtain31 min
Mar 25, 6:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHunt, Rockwall60 min
Mar 25, 6:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBowie, Red River29 min
Mar 25, 6:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVRed River25 min
Mar 25, 6:43 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDKaufman47 min
Mar 25, 6:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDEllis49 min
Mar 25, 7:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVTitus44 min
Mar 25, 7:02 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDFalls58 min
Mar 25, 7:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDNavarro63 min
Mar 25, 7:37 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVLittle River38 min
Mar 25, 8:04 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVMorris41 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

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 109 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-03-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 771 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-03-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 287 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
771 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-366 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
593 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
287 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
332 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 
WWUS20 KWNS 252101
SEL3
WWUS20 KWNS 252105
SPC WW 252105
ARZ000-OKZ000-TXZ000-260300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 73
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
305 PM CST TUE MAR 25 2003

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS                           
   SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA                           
   NORTHCENTRAL AND NORTHEAST TEXAS                              

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 305 PM UNTIL 900
PM CST.

HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF WACO TEXAS
TO 30 MILES NORTHEAST OF PAGE OKLAHOMA.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 72...

DISCUSSION...AIRMASS AHEAD OF COLD FRONT HAS BECOME MODERATELY
UNSTABLE ACROSS NRN TX INTO SWRN AR.  WITH STEEP MID LEVEL LAPSE
RATES AND RELATIVELY COLD AIR ALOFT...THUNDERSTORMS WILL RAPIDLY
DEVELOP AND BECOME SEVERE VICINITY OF FRONT.  PRIMARY THREAT WILL
BE LARGE HAIL.


AVIATION...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 3 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60
KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.  MEAN STORM
MOTION VECTOR 26030.


...HALES

345,0930 310,0954 310,0981 345,0952

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 25, 1:39 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHoward, Little River, Sevier3 hr
Mar 25, 1:58 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Cleburne, Conway, Craighead, Faulkner, Greene and 11 more2 hr
Mar 25, 2:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBaxter, Boone, Clay, Cleburne, Conway, Craighead and 15 more5 hr
Mar 25, 4:55 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Crittenden, Cross and 19 more3 hr
Mar 25, 5:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCArkansas, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Conway, Craighead and 36 more6 hr
Mar 25, 5:39 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Crittenden, Cross and 19 more2 hr
Mar 24, 8:45 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCaddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Comanche, Creek, Grady and 17 more3 hr
Mar 25, 2:33 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Craig, Garfield, Grant, Kay, Major and 8 more3 hr
Mar 25, 3:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAtascosa, Bastrop, Bee, Bell, Bexar, Blanco and 28 more6 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Texas, 2003Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Arkansas, 2003Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Oklahoma, 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.