Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 181
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 29, 2003, 3:40 PM CDT for 25 counties in Kansas; 4 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 29, 2003, 3:40 PM CDT (20:40 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 29, 2003, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 29 counties
Clay County, KS, Cloud County, KS, Decatur County, KS, Dickinson County, KS, Ellis County, KS, Ellsworth County, KS, Geary County, KS, Gove County, KS, Graham County, KS, Jewell County, KS, Lincoln County, KS, Mitchell County, KS, Norton County, KS, Osborne County, KS, Ottawa County, KS, Phillips County, KS, Republic County, KS, Riley County, KS, Rooks County, KS, Russell County, KS, Saline County, KS, Sheridan County, KS, Smith County, KS, Trego County, KS, Washington County, KS, Franklin County, NE, Furnas County, NE, Harlan County, NE, Red Willow County, NE
The radar
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 100 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:43 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
3 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 29, 8:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Franklin, Webster | 64 min |
| Apr 29, 8:20 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Phillips, Smith | 40 min |
| Apr 29, 8:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Franklin, Webster | 66 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, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 204 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
- 1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1413 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 43 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 204 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 197 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 292041
SEL1
SPC WW 292040
KSZ000-NEZ000-300200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 181
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
340 PM CDT TUE APR 29 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHERN KANSAS
SOUTHERN NEBRASKA
EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 340 PM UNTIL 900
PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 50 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF MCCOOK NEBRASKA
TO 55 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF CONCORDIA KANSAS.
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 179...WW 180...
DISCUSSION...VERY FAVORABLE WIND SHEAR IN PLACE ALONG E/W FRONTAL
ZONE JUST SO OF KS/NEB BORDER IN SUPPORT OF SUPERCELLS. AIRMASS TO
SO OF FRONT VERY UNSTABLE WITH MLCAPES AOA 2500 J/KG WITH A WEAK
CAP. THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP RAPIDLY NEXT 1-2 HOURS WITH
TORNADIC SUPERCELLS LIKELY ALONG WITH VERY LARGE HAIL. STORMS WILL
PROPAGATE E/SEWD VICINITY OF WARM FRONT.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24030.
...HALES
402,1005 395,0964 382,0964 385,1005SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 7:10 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua and 12 more | 2 hr |
| Apr 28, 11:50 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cheyenne, Rawlins | 2 hr |
| Apr 29, 2:15 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Decatur, Jewell, Norton, Phillips, Rawlins, Republic and 2 more | 3 hr |
| Apr 29, 2:19 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cloud, Ellis, Ellsworth, Graham, Jewell, Lincoln and 11 more | 116 min |
| Apr 29, 4:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Cheyenne, Logan, Rawlins, Scott, Sherman, Thomas and 1 more | 6 hr |
| Apr 29, 5:52 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clay, Cloud, Decatur, Dickinson, Ellis, Ellsworth and 19 more | 53 min |
| Apr 29, 6:16 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cheyenne, Logan, Rawlins, Scott, Sherman, Thomas and 2 more | 119 min |
| Apr 29, 3:47 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Kimball | 118 min |
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.