Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 292
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 7, 2003, 8:15 PM CDT for 13 counties in Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 7, 2003, 8:15 PM CDT (01:15 UTC)
- Expired
- May 8, 2003, 2:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
Counties Bosque County, TX, Coryell County, TX, Ellis County, TX, Erath County, TX, Freestone County, TX, Hamilton County, TX, Henderson County, TX, Hill County, TX, Johnson County, TX, Limestone County, TX, McLennan County, TX, Navarro County, TX, Somervell County, TX
The radar
The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:17 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 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 117 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
- 2620 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -41 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1523 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 18 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 245 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.6
- Supercell composite
- 4.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 080111
SEL2
SPC WW 080115
TXZ000-080700-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 292
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
815 PM CDT WED MAY 7 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM 815 PM
UNTIL 200 AM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF STEPHENVILLE TEXAS TO 20
MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF WACO 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 289...WW 290...WW 291...
DISCUSSION...INTENSE SUPERCELL CURRENTLY EASTLAND COUNTY WILL
CONTINUE POTENTIALLY TORNADIC AS IT MOVES ESEWD INTO A VERY UNSTABLE
AIRMASS. VEERING SHEAR PROFILES WILL LIKELY BECOME EVEN MORE
ENHANCED DURING EVENING WITH INCREASING LOW LEVEL JET.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 29030.
...HALES
323,0955 312,0954 312,0982 323,0982SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 8:01 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Archer, Armstrong, Baylor, Bosque, Briscoe, Callahan and 59 more | 59 min |
| May 7, 10:35 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Clay, Cooke, Fannin, Foard, Grayson, Hardeman and 3 more | 5 hr |
| May 7, 11:51 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clay, Cooke, Fannin, Foard, Grayson, Hardeman and 3 more | 54 min |
| May 8, 1:57 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cooke, Fannin, Grayson, Montague | 2 hr |
| May 8, 1:35 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Wichita | 7 hr |
| May 8, 2:43 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Archer, Bosque, Brown, Burnet, Callahan, Clay and 28 more | 62 min |
| May 8, 3:40 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Archer, Brown, Callahan, Clay, Coleman, Comanche and 18 more | 5 hr |
Nearby
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.