Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 224

May 3, 2003Logan County, Phillips County, Sedgwick County, Colorado; 17 counties in Nebraska

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 3, 2003, 4:10 PM MDT for Logan County, Phillips County, Sedgwick County, Colorado; 17 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 3, 2003, 4:10 PM MDT (22:10 UTC)
Expired: May 3, 2003, 9:00 PM MDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Logan County, CO, Phillips County, CO, Sedgwick County, CO, Arthur County, NE, Box Butte County, NE, Chase County, NE, Cherry County, NE, Cheyenne County, NE, Dawes County, NE, Deuel County, NE, Garden County, NE, Grant County, NE, Hayes County, NE, Hooker County, NE, Keith County, NE, Lincoln County, NE, McPherson County, NE, Morrill County, NE, Perkins County, NE, Sheridan County, NE

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 4:14 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	CYS	Morrill	31 min
May 3, 4:46 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	CYS	Morrill	29 min
May 3, 5:13 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	CYS	Morrill	32 min
May 3, 5:35 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	CYS	Morrill, Scotts Bluff	40 min
May 3, 5:39 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Garden	51 min
May 3, 6:14 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	CYS	Morrill	46 min
May 3, 6:32 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Garden, Grant, Sheridan	58 min
May 3, 7:00 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	CYS	Morrill	45 min
May 3, 7:29 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Grant	46 min
May 3, 7:35 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Garden, Sheridan	55 min
May 3, 8:10 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Grant	50 min
May 3, 8:31 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Garden	59 min
May 3, 8:46 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Cherry, Hooker	59 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, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 139 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 15 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -313 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 736 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 231 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 264 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 032207
SEL4  
SPC WW 032210
COZ000-NEZ000-040300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 224 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
410 PM MDT SAT MAY 3 2003

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

       EXTREME NORTHEAST COLORADO
       WESTERN NEBRASKA

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 410 PM UNTIL
900 PM MDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 55 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF CHADRON NEBRASKA TO 15
MILES SOUTHWEST OF IMPERIAL 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 220...WW 221...WW 222...WW
223...


DISCUSSION...THREAT FOR SUPERCELLS/TORNADOES WILL INCREASE DURING
THE EVENING ACROSS THE WRN NEB AREA.  STRONG PRESSURE FALLS ACROSS
THIS AREA WILL RESULT IN BACKED LOW-LEVEL WINDS/STRONG LOW-LEVEL
SHEAR BENEATH 40-50 KT MID LEVEL FLOW.	ALSO...MOISTURE ADVECTION
FROM THE SE WILL RESULT IN DESTABILIZATION ACROSS WRN NEB 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 50 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26025.


...THOMPSON

430,1010 402,1002 402,1030 430,1035

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 11:48 AM MDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Logan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, Yuma	2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2003 Tornado Watches in Colorado, 2003 Every 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.