Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 209

May 2, 200326 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 2, 2003, 2:45 PM CDT for 26 counties in Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 2, 2003, 2:45 PM CDT (19:45 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 2003, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 26 counties

Brown County, TX, Callahan County, TX, Coke County, TX, Coleman County, TX, Concho County, TX, Crockett County, TX, Eastland County, TX, Fisher County, TX, Irion County, TX, Jones County, TX, Kimble County, TX, McCulloch County, TX, Menard County, TX, Mitchell County, TX, Nolan County, TX, Palo Pinto County, TX, Reagan County, TX, Runnels County, TX, Schleicher County, TX, Shackelford County, TX, Stephens County, TX, Sterling County, TX, Sutton County, TX, Taylor County, TX, Terrell County, TX, Tom Green County, TX

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 3:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSJTRunnels55 min
May 2, 3:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSJTConcho60 min
May 2, 3:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSJTColeman, McCulloch68 min
May 2, 4:15 PM CDTTornado WarningSJTMcCulloch60 min
May 2, 4:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSJTColeman64 min
May 2, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSJTRunnels75 min
May 2, 5:06 PM CDTTornado WarningSJTMcCulloch, San Saba54 min
May 2, 5:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSJTBrown67 min
May 2, 6:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDEastland47 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

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 171 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-05-02Temperature 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3158 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
123 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 021942
SEL9  
SPC WW 021945
TXZ000-030200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 209 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
245 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 2003

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       SOUTHWEST AND A PART OF CENTRAL TEXAS

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 245 PM UNTIL 900
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 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 40 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF ABILENE TEXAS TO 75
MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF JUNCTION TEXAS.

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 207...WW 208...


DISCUSSION...STRONG MIXING ALONG WEST EDGE OF SUBSTANTIAL BOUNDARY
LAYER MOIST AXIS IS SUPPORTING ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ATTM.  MLCAPES
ARE IN EXCESS OF 3500 J/KG...AND REGION REMAINS UNDER STRONG WNWLY
FLOW ALOFT WITHIN SRN STREAM JET.  THUS...SUPERCELLS ARE EXPECTED
WITH ATTENDANT THREATS OF VERY LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND 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 28020.


...EVANS

325,0980 300,0993 300,1021 325,1004

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 7:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBell, Blanco, Bosque, Brown, Burnet, Comanche and 29 more5 hr
May 1, 9:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBowie, Cass, Morris, Titus4 hr
May 1, 10:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Bell, Blanco, Bosque, Brown, Burnet and 30 more95 min
May 1, 11:19 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAustin, Brazoria, Brazos, Burleson, Colorado, Fort Bend and 14 more86 min
May 1, 11:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAustin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris and 4 more4 hr
May 1, 11:53 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBowie, Cass, Morris, Titus67 min
May 2, 2:21 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Angelina, Cherokee, Gregg, Hardin, Harrison and 15 more114 min
May 2, 2:25 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBosque, Brown, Callahan, Coke, Coleman, Comanche and 21 more2 hr
May 2, 4:28 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Bell, Bosque, Cherokee, Coryell, Dallas and 30 more2 hr
May 2, 4:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAnderson, Bell, Bosque, Brown, Burnet, Cass and 32 more5 hr
May 2, 5:57 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrown, Callahan, Coke, Coleman, Comanche, Concho and 12 more2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Texas, 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.