Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 233

May 4, 20034 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 4, 2003, 12:45 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 4, 2003, 12:45 PM CDT (17:45 UTC)
Expired: May 4, 2003, 7:00 PM CDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 46 counties

Adams County, IA, Cass County, IA, Fremont County, IA, Mills County, IA, Montgomery County, IA, Page County, IA, Pottawattamie County, IA, Taylor County, IA, Atchison County, KS, Brown County, KS, Doniphan County, KS, Douglas County, KS, Jefferson County, KS, Johnson County, KS, Leavenworth County, KS, Linn County, KS, Miami County, KS, Wyandotte County, KS, Andrew County, MO, Atchison County, MO, Bates County, MO, Benton County, MO, Buchanan County, MO, Caldwell County, MO, Cass County, MO, Clay County, MO, Clinton County, MO, Daviess County, MO, DeKalb County, MO, Gentry County, MO, Henry County, MO, Holt County, MO, Jackson County, MO, Johnson County, MO, Lafayette County, MO, Nodaway County, MO, Pettis County, MO, Platte County, MO, Ray County, MO, Worth County, MO, Cass County, NE, Douglas County, NE, Nemaha County, NE, Otoe County, NE, Richardson County, NE, Sarpy County, NE

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 4, 2:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Atchison	45 min
May 4, 2:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Doniphan	64 min
May 4, 2:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Jefferson	25 min
May 4, 3:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Andrew	53 min
May 4, 3:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Leavenworth	32 min
May 4, 3:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Jefferson	17 min
May 4, 3:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Douglas, Sarpy	54 min
May 4, 3:30 PM CDT	Tornado Warning Emergency	EAX	Leavenworth	45 min
May 4, 3:35 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Douglas, Sarpy	55 min
May 4, 3:43 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Buchanan	62 min
May 4, 3:50 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Platte	55 min
May 4, 4:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Wyandotte	43 min
May 4, 4:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Mills, Pottawattamie	63 min
May 4, 4:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Cass	44 min
May 4, 4:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Linn, Miami	40 min
May 4, 4:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Mills, Pottawattamie	54 min
May 4, 4:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Jackson	54 min
May 4, 4:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Cass	37 min
May 4, 4:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Clay, Clinton	64 min
May 4, 4:31 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Platte	59 min
May 4, 4:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Fremont	45 min
May 4, 4:59 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Miami	61 min
May 4, 5:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Ray	57 min
May 4, 5:06 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Clay, Clinton	24 min
May 4, 5:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Mills, Montgomery, Pottawattamie	31 min
May 4, 5:16 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Jackson	44 min
May 4, 5:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Bates	24 min
May 4, 5:22 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Clay	38 min
May 4, 5:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Fremont, Page	51 min
May 4, 5:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Cass	43 min
May 4, 5:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Montgomery	29 min
May 4, 5:46 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Cass	44 min
May 4, 5:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Nodaway	28 min
May 4, 5:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adams	54 min
May 4, 5:53 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Ray	37 min
May 4, 5:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Taylor	50 min
May 4, 5:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Atchison	50 min
May 4, 6:10 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Johnson	65 min
May 4, 6:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Gentry, Nodaway	43 min
May 4, 6:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Jackson	56 min
May 4, 6:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Daviess, DeKalb	56 min
May 4, 6:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Taylor	44 min
May 4, 6:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adams	41 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

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 146 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: 409 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -194 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 563 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 582 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 841 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 17.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 041749
SEL3  
SPC WW 041745
IAZ000-KSZ000-MOZ000-NEZ000-050000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 233 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
1245 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

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

       SOUTHWEST IOWA
       FAR NORTHEAST KANSAS
       NORTHWEST MISSOURI
       FAR EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1245 PM UNTIL 700
PM CDT.

...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...

DESTRUCTIVE TORNADOES...LARGE 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 55 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF OMAHA NEBRASKA TO 45 MILES
SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF KNOB NOSTER MISSOURI.

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 231...WW 232...


DISCUSSION...LINE OF TCU/SMALL CBS HAS DEVELOPED FROM SERN NEB INTO
NERN KS ... EAST OF SURFACE LOW AND AHEAD OF SEVERE CONVECTION/BOW
ECHO NOW DEVELOPING OVER S-CENTRAL NEB.  WITH LARGE SCALE ASCENT AND
STRONG PRESSURE FALLS OVERSPREADING THE LOWER/MID MO RIVER VALLEY
TODAY... EXPECT GRADUAL RECOVER/EROSION OF LOW CLOUDS FROM WEST TO
EAST ACROSS WW.  THIS WILL RESULT IN MODERATE TO STRONG INSTABILITY
OVERSPREADING THE WW DURING THE AFTERNOON/EVENING.  VERY STRONG
SHEAR WILL SUPPORT SUPERCELLS...WITH ATTENDANT THREAT OF STRONG
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 24040.


...EVANS

412,0943 380,0925 380,0945 412,0964

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 11:46 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Adams, Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona and 5 more	59 min
May 4, 12:10 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Adair, Adams, Audubon, Boone, Carroll, Cass and 18 more	6 hr
May 4, 2:58 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Boone, Carroll and 37 more	92 min
May 4, 4:50 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Cass, Clarke, Davis and 23 more	6 hr
May 4, 7:43 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Cass, Clarke, Davis and 15 more	2 hr
May 4, 9:48 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Audubon, Buena Vista, Carroll, Cass, Cherokee, Clay and 17 more	117 min
May 4, 12:14 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Fremont, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, Taylor	2 hr
May 4, 2:22 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Fremont, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, Taylor	113 min
May 4, 3:56 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Adair, Appanoose, Audubon, Boone, Carroll, Cass and 22 more	2 hr
May 4, 5:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Appanoose, Davis, Des Moines, Lee, Van Buren	6 hr
May 4, 5:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Clarke, Dallas, Decatur and 14 more	5 hr
May 3, 11:07 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Barber, Barton, Butler, Chase, Clark, Clay and 43 more	83 min
May 4, 10:19 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Atchison, Butler, Chase, Clay, Coffey, Dickinson and 19 more	116 min
May 4, 11:40 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Anderson, Chase, Clay, Cloud, Coffey, Dickinson and 19 more	6 hr
May 4, 11:44 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Chautauqua, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette, Montgomery, Neosho and 1 more	3 hr
May 4, 12:35 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Allen, Bourbon, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Crawford, Elk and 6 more	6 hr
May 4, 2:58 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Ellis, Gove, Jewell, Lane, Lincoln, Mitchell and 9 more	92 min
May 4, 3:05 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Allen, Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette, Montgomery and 1 more	115 min
May 4, 4:28 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Wyandotte	62 min
May 4, 4:43 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette, Linn, Neosho	2 hr
May 4, 6:05 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford	7 hr
May 4, 6:20 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Doniphan, Wyandotte	6 hr
May 4, 5:01 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Butler, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Stoddard	3 hr
May 4, 5:20 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Barry, Barton, Cedar, Christian, Dade, Dallas and 18 more	55 min
May 4, 6:55 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Butler, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Scott and 2 more	6 hr
May 3, 8:33 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Arthur, Box Butte, Chase, Cherry, Cheyenne, Deuel and 10 more	57 min
May 3, 9:42 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Adams, Arthur, Blaine, Brown, Buffalo, Chase and 33 more	33 min
May 3, 10:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Adams, Antelope, Arthur, Blaine, Boone, Boyd and 41 more	6 hr
May 4, 1:55 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Clay, Fillmore, Gage, Hamilton, Lancaster, Saline and 2 more	2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Missouri, 2003 Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2003 Tornado Watches in Iowa, 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.