Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 220

May 3, 20034 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 3, 2003, 1:40 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 3, 2003, 1:40 PM CDT (18:40 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 2003, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 54 counties

Columbia County, AR, Hempstead County, AR, Lafayette County, AR, Little River County, AR, Miller County, AR, Nevada County, AR, Sevier County, AR, Bienville Parish, LA, Bossier Parish, LA, Caddo Parish, LA, De Soto Parish, LA, Natchitoches Parish, LA, Red River Parish, LA, Webster Parish, LA, Atoka County, OK, Bryan County, OK, Carter County, OK, Choctaw County, OK, Coal County, OK, Garvin County, OK, Johnston County, OK, Love County, OK, Marshall County, OK, McClain County, OK, McCurtain County, OK, Murray County, OK, Pontotoc County, OK, Pushmataha County, OK, Bowie County, TX, Camp County, TX, Cass County, TX, Collin County, TX, Cooke County, TX, Delta County, TX, Denton County, TX, Fannin County, TX, Franklin County, TX, Grayson County, TX, Gregg County, TX, Harrison County, TX, Hopkins County, TX, Hunt County, TX, Lamar County, TX, Marion County, TX, Morris County, TX, Panola 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), 192 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:40 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.

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, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 173 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 2003-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 452 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 2003-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 104 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
452 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-351 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
955 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
180 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 031841
SEL0  
SPC WW 031840
ARZ000-LAZ000-OKZ000-TXZ000-040100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 220 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
140 PM CDT SAT MAY 3 2003

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

       FAR SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
       NORTHWEST LOUISIANA
       SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA
       NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST TEXAS

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 140 PM UNTIL
800 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 70 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF SHREVEPORT
LOUISIANA TO 35 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF ARDMORE OKLAHOMA.

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 219...


DISCUSSION...WARM FRONT IS BECOMING WELL DEFINED FROM NEAR THE SHV
AREA TO NORTH OF DFW THIS AFTERNOON.  18Z SOUNDING FROM FTW
INDICATES AIR MASS REMAINS SLIGHTLY CAPPED ATTM...THOUGH FURTHER
HEATING SHOULD SUPPORT RAPID THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT NEAR THE
BOUNDARY IN THE NEXT 1-2 HOURS.  DEEP LAYER SHEAR REMAINS VERY
SUPPORTIVE OF SUPERCELLS... WITH LIKELY EVOLUTION INTO
HP-STRUCTURES...AND AN ATTENDANT THREAT OF VERY LARGE HAIL AND
ISOLATED TORNADOES.  ACTIVITY WILL SHIFT SEWD INTO NWRN LA THROUGH
THE EVENING...WITH POTENTIAL FOR ONE OR MORE BOW ECHO SYSTEMS
EVOLVING.

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 28025.


...EVANS

314,0930 330,0973 350,0973 334,0930

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 9:30 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Columbia, Dallas and 13 more2 hr
May 2, 9:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Columbia, Dallas and 15 more5 hr
May 2, 11:42 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Columbia, Dallas and 15 more93 min
May 3, 2:36 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Cleburne and 26 more24 min
May 3, 12:29 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColumbia, Hempstead, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada and 2 more3 hr
May 3, 3:42 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColumbia, Hempstead, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada and 1 more2 hr
May 3, 6:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColumbia, Hempstead, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada and 1 more56 min
May 3, 4:36 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCLivingston, Orleans, Saint Charles, Saint Helena, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Tammany and 2 more114 min
May 3, 4:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCConcordia, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Franklin, Livingston and 9 more5 hr
May 3, 1:42 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaver, Beckham, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Roger Mills and 2 more3 hr
May 3, 4:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCCaddo, Comanche, Cotton, Grady, Greer, Harmon and 5 more5 hr
May 3, 6:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeckham, Blaine, Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Custer and 11 more65 min
May 2, 8:09 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Bell, Bosque, Burnet, Comanche, Coryell and 23 more96 min
May 2, 10:25 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBosque, Brown, Callahan, Coleman, Comanche, Concho and 11 more95 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Texas, 2003Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2003Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 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.