Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 332

May 10, 200323 counties in Kansas; 13 counties in Missouri

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 10, 2003, 3:05 AM CDT for 23 counties in Kansas; 13 counties in Missouri. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 10, 2003, 3:05 AM CDT (08:05 UTC)
Expired
May 10, 2003, 8:00 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 36 counties

Allen County, KS, Anderson County, KS, Bourbon County, KS, Butler County, KS, Chase County, KS, Chautauqua County, KS, Cherokee County, KS, Coffey County, KS, Cowley County, KS, Crawford County, KS, Elk County, KS, Franklin County, KS, Greenwood County, KS, Labette County, KS, Linn County, KS, Lyon County, KS, Miami County, KS, Montgomery County, KS, Neosho County, KS, Sedgwick County, KS, Sumner County, KS, Wilson County, KS, Woodson County, KS, Barton County, MO, Bates County, MO, Benton County, MO, Cedar County, MO, Dade County, MO, Henry County, MO, Hickory County, MO, Jasper County, MO, Lawrence County, MO, Morgan County, MO, Polk County, MO, St. Clair County, MO, Vernon County, MO

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 140 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:04 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 3:29 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXHenry46 min
May 10, 3:37 AM CDTTornado WarningTOPCoffey, Lyon53 min
May 10, 3:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGFBenton42 min
May 10, 3:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas, Franklin, Osage47 min
May 10, 4:29 AM CDTTornado WarningTOPAnderson, Coffey, Franklin61 min
May 10, 4:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXJohnson, Miami66 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 00:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 158 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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2003-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 173 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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2003-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 154 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
173 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-412 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1579 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
68 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
154 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
422 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 100802
SEL2  
SPC WW 100805
KSZ000-MOZ000-101300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 332 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
305 AM CDT SAT MAY 10 2003

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

       SOUTHEAST KANSAS
       SOUTHWEST MISSOURI

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY MORNING FROM 305 AM UNTIL 800 AM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 120 STATUTE MILES EAST AND
WEST OF A LINE FROM 80 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF EMPORIA KANSAS TO
55 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF CHANUTE KANSAS.

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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 329...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER
331. WATCH NUMBER 329 331 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 305 AM CDT.
CONTINUE...WW 328...WW 330...


DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS IN KS HAVE NOW DEVELOPED VERY CLOSE TO
THE SURFACE WARM FRONT...AND THE LOW LEVELS CONTINUE TO DESTABILIZE
SLOWLY NWD ACROSS SE KS/W CENTRAL MO.  WITH RICH LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE
AND STRONG LOW-LEVEL SHEAR IN PLACE OVER SE KS/SW MO...AND THE
DEVELOPMENT OF RIGHT-MOVING SUPERCELLS TO THE NE OF ICT...THE THREAT
FOR TORNADOES IS INCREASING ACROSS E/SE KS INTO W/SW MO.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26030.


...THOMPSON

384,0923 365,0934 365,0980 384,0970

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 7:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCButler, Chase, Coffey, Cowley, Elk, Greenwood and 7 more5 hr
May 9, 7:47 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Bourbon, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette and 5 more88 min
May 9, 10:04 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Anderson, Atchison, Bourbon, Chautauqua, Cherokee and 20 more26 min
May 9, 11:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllen, Anderson, Bourbon, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Coffey and 14 more6 hr
May 10, 12:49 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtchison, Barber, Brown, Butler, Chase, Clay and 24 more86 min
May 10, 1:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAtchison, Barber, Brown, Butler, Chase, Clay and 25 more5 hr
May 10, 2:28 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtchison, Barber, Brown, Butler, Chase, Clay and 25 more92 min
May 10, 3:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAtchison, Brown, Doniphan, Douglas, Geary, Jackson and 10 more5 hr
May 10, 5:27 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Anderson, Bourbon, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua and 20 more93 min
May 10, 7:06 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtchison, Brown, Doniphan, Douglas, Geary, Jackson and 10 more54 min
May 10, 9:16 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChautauqua, Cherokee, Labette, Montgomery, Neosho, Wilson3 hr
May 10, 10:54 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette, Linn and 2 more66 min
May 10, 10:58 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Anderson, Atchison, Bourbon, Brown, Coffey and 18 more2 hr
May 10, 11:35 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCLinn, Miami7 hr
May 10, 11:55 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAllen, Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette, Montgomery and 1 more7 hr
May 10, 1:42 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCMiami2 hr
May 10, 1:59 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette, Montgomery and 1 more2 hr
May 10, 1:22 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCNewton83 min
May 10, 5:43 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAudrain, Boone, Callaway, Clark, Knox, Lewis and 11 more92 min
May 10, 5:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAudrain, Boone, Callaway, Clark, Cole, Franklin and 19 more5 hr
May 10, 9:25 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCIron, Jefferson, Madison, Perry, Sainte Genevieve, Saint Francois and 1 more2 hr
May 10, 3:17 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Schuyler, Scotland58 min
May 10, 3:30 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrawford, Dent, Douglas, Franklin, Gasconade, Howell and 16 more2 hr
May 10, 3:50 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCPutnam, Schuyler, Scotland6 hr
May 10, 4:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Crawford, Dent and 22 more5 hr
May 10, 4:48 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Audrain, Benton, Boone, Callaway, Chariton and 24 more87 min
May 10, 5:40 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdair, Audrain, Benton, Boone, Callaway, Chariton and 32 more5 hr
May 10, 6:41 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAudrain, Boone, Callaway, Cole, Cooper, Lewis and 13 more64 min

Nearby

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