Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 119
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 15, 2003, 3:45 PM CDT for 16 counties in Kansas; 15 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 15, 2003, 3:45 PM CDT (20:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 15, 2003, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 31 counties
Decatur County, KS, Ellis County, KS, Gove County, KS, Graham County, KS, Logan County, KS, Norton County, KS, Osborne County, KS, Phillips County, KS, Rawlins County, KS, Rooks County, KS, Rush County, KS, Sheridan County, KS, Sherman County, KS, Smith County, KS, Thomas County, KS, Trego County, KS, Buffalo County, NE, Dawson County, NE, Dundy County, NE, Franklin County, NE, Frontier County, NE, Furnas County, NE, Gosper County, NE, Harlan County, NE, Hayes County, NE, Hitchcock County, NE, Kearney County, NE, Lincoln County, NE, Perkins County, NE, Phelps County, NE, Red Willow County, NE
The radar
The Goodland radar (KGLD), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:47 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
18 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 15, 4:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Sheridan | 49 min |
| Apr 15, 4:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Rawlins | 62 min |
| Apr 15, 4:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Gove | 54 min |
| Apr 15, 4:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Harlan | 45 min |
| Apr 15, 4:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Decatur, Norton | 58 min |
| Apr 15, 4:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Hitchcock | 54 min |
| Apr 15, 4:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Furnas | 33 min |
| Apr 15, 5:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Thomas | 55 min |
| Apr 15, 5:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Sherman | 62 min |
| Apr 15, 5:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Gove | 55 min |
| Apr 15, 5:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Logan | 19 min |
| Apr 15, 5:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Hitchcock, Red Willow | 60 min |
| Apr 15, 5:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Decatur, Rawlins, Thomas | 62 min |
| Apr 15, 6:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Frontier, Hayes | 44 min |
| Apr 15, 6:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Frontier, Hayes | 42 min |
| Apr 15, 6:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Hitchcock, Red Willow | 58 min |
| Apr 15, 7:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Graham, Norton | 55 min |
| Apr 15, 7:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Dawson, Gosper | 50 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
N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 178 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 3632 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 120 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 131 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WWUS20 KWNS 152045 SEL9 SPC WW 152045 KSZ000-NEZ000-160200- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 119 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 345 PM CDT TUE APR 15 2003 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST KANSAS SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 345 PM UNTIL 900 PM CDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 80 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF HILL CITY KANSAS TO 65 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF MCCOOK NEBRASKA. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND 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. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION... CONTINUE...WW 118... DISCUSSION...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE INCREASING OVER NORTHWEST KS AND SOUTHWEST NEB. VERTICAL SHEAR PROFILES ARE FORECAST TO INCREASE RAPIDLY THIS EVENING OVER THIS REGION...AS LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY DEVELOPS NORTHWESTWARD. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND WILL BE THE INITIAL THREAT...WITH AN INCREASING POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES THROUGH THE EVENING. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035. ...HART 383,1014 410,1013 410,0983 383,0984
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 15, 12:41 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clark, Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray, Haskell and 7 more | 3 hr |
| Apr 15, 2:10 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Finney, Ford, Grant and 14 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 15, 3:32 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Ford, Kiowa | 118 min |
| Apr 15, 5:55 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barber, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Ford, Gray and 6 more | 65 min |
| Apr 15, 6:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barber, Barton, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Ford and 16 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 15, 6:57 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Decatur, Graham, Norton, Osborne, Phillips, Rooks and 3 more | 93 min |
| Apr 15, 4:46 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Antelope, Blaine, Boone, Boyd, Brown, Cedar and 19 more | 89 min |
| Apr 15, 5:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Antelope, Blaine, Boone, Boyd, Brown, Cedar and 25 more | 6 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2003Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2003Every tornado 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.