Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 222
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 3, 2003, 4:00 PM CDT for 11 counties in Oklahoma; 28 counties in Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 3, 2003, 4:00 PM CDT (21:00 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 2003, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 39 counties
Caddo County, OK, Comanche County, OK, Cotton County, OK, Grady County, OK, Greer County, OK, Harmon County, OK, Jackson County, OK, Jefferson County, OK, Kiowa County, OK, Stephens County, OK, Tillman County, OK, Archer County, TX, Armstrong County, TX, Baylor County, TX, Briscoe County, TX, Childress County, TX, Clay County, TX, Collingsworth County, TX, Cottle County, TX, Crosby County, TX, Dickens County, TX, Donley County, TX, Floyd County, TX, Foard County, TX, Garza County, TX, Hall County, TX, Hardeman County, TX, Haskell County, TX, Jack County, TX, Kent County, TX, King County, TX, Knox County, TX, Montague County, TX, Motley County, TX, Stonewall County, TX, Throckmorton County, TX, Wichita County, TX, Wilbarger County, TX, Young County, TX
The radar
The Altus AFB radar (KFDR), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:01 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
15 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 4:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Dickens | 63 min |
| May 3, 4:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Cottle, King | 54 min |
| May 3, 5:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Stonewall | 50 min |
| May 3, 5:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SJT | Haskell | 60 min |
| May 3, 6:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Stonewall | 25 min |
| May 3, 6:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Harmon | 39 min |
| May 3, 6:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Collingsworth | 32 min |
| May 3, 6:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Childress | 62 min |
| May 3, 6:33 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SJT | Haskell | 57 min |
| May 3, 6:35 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LUB | Stonewall | 10 min |
| May 3, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN | Greer, Harmon | 47 min |
| May 3, 7:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Collingsworth | 29 min |
| May 3, 7:22 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SJT | Haskell | 53 min |
| May 3, 7:56 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SJT | Shackelford, Throckmorton | 64 min |
| May 3, 8:14 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SJT | Haskell | 31 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
Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 215 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
- 228 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -274 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 785 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 60 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 221 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 238 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 032058
SEL2
SPC WW 032100
OKZ000-TXZ000-040200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 222
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
400 PM CDT SAT MAY 3 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA
NORTHWEST TEXAS
EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 400 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 115 STATUTE MILES EAST AND
WEST OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF ALTUS OKLAHOMA TO
95 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WICHITA FALLS 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 220...WW 221...
DISCUSSION...LINE OF TCU AND A SMALL CB HAS DEVELOPED ALONG THE DRY
LINE JUST EAST OF LBB. GIVEN THE VERY UNSTABLE AIR MASS /MLCAPES TO
3000 J/KG /...ALONG WITH SUFFICIENT DEEP LAYER SHEAR...ACTIVITY WILL
LIKELY CONTINUE TO INCREASE AND EVOLVE INTO SUPERCELLS. VERY LARGE
HAIL AND ISOLATED TORNADOES CAN BE EXPECTED AS ACTIVITY SHIFTS EWD
INTO THE MID EVENING.
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 27020.
...EVANS
350,0973 325,0974 325,1013 350,1013SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 9:30 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Choctaw, McCurtain | 2 hr |
| May 2, 9:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | McCurtain | 5 hr |
| May 2, 11:42 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | McCurtain | 93 min |
| May 3, 12:29 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atoka, Bryan, Choctaw, Coal, Johnston, McCurtain and 2 more | 3 hr |
| May 3, 1:40 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Atoka, Bryan, Carter, Choctaw, Coal, Garvin and 8 more | 6 hr |
| May 3, 1:42 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaver, Beckham, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Roger Mills and 2 more | 3 hr |
| May 3, 3:42 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atoka, Bryan, Carter, Choctaw, Coal, Garvin and 8 more | 2 hr |
| May 3, 6:10 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Custer and 11 more | 65 min |
| May 3, 6:49 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atoka, Bryan, Carter, Choctaw, Coal, Garvin and 8 more | 56 min |
| May 2, 8:09 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anderson, Bell, Bosque, Burnet, Comanche, Coryell and 23 more | 96 min |
| May 2, 10:25 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bosque, Brown, Callahan, Coleman, Comanche, Concho and 11 more | 95 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Texas, 2003Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 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.