Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 352

May 10, 200321 counties in Indiana; 28 counties in Michigan; 4 counties in Ohio

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 10, 2003, 11:00 PM EST for 21 counties in Indiana; 28 counties in Michigan; 4 counties in Ohio. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 10, 2003, 11:00 PM EST (04:00 UTC)
Expired: May 11, 2003, 5:00 AM EST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 53 counties

Adams County, IN, Allen County, IN, Cass County, IN, DeKalb County, IN, Elkhart County, IN, Fulton County, IN, Huntington County, IN, Kosciusko County, IN, LaGrange County, IN, LaPorte County, IN, Marshall County, IN, Miami County, IN, Noble County, IN, Pulaski County, IN, Saint Joseph County, IN, Starke County, IN, Steuben County, IN, Wabash County, IN, Wells County, IN, White County, IN, Whitley County, IN, Allegan County, MI, Barry County, MI, Bay County, MI, Berrien County, MI, Branch County, MI, Calhoun County, MI, Cass County, MI, Clinton County, MI, Eaton County, MI, Gratiot County, MI, Hillsdale County, MI, Ingham County, MI, Ionia County, MI, Isabella County, MI, Jackson County, MI, Kalamazoo County, MI, Kent County, MI, Mecosta County, MI, Midland County, MI, Montcalm County, MI, Muskegon County, MI, Newaygo County, MI, Oceana County, MI, Ottawa County, MI, Saginaw County, MI, Saint Joseph County, MI, Shiawassee County, MI, Van Buren County, MI, Defiance County, OH, Paulding County, OH, Van Wert County, OH, Williams County, OH

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 62 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:00 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

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 10, 11:46 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Ionia, Kent, Montcalm	59 min
May 10, 11:50 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	LaPorte	55 min
May 11, 12:03 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Allegan	42 min
May 11, 12:34 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Clinton, Gratiot	71 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

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 00:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 209 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: 220 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -40 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 951 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 73 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 110354
SEL2  
SPC WW 110400
INZ000-MIZ000-OHZ000-LMZ000-LHZ000-111000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 352 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
MIDNIGHT EDT SAT MAY 10 2003

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

       NORTHERN INDIANA
       SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL LOWER MICHIGAN
       NORTHWESTERN OHIO
       LAKE MICHIGAN
       LAKE HURON

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY MORNING FROM MIDNIGHT UNTIL 600 AM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 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 SOUTHWEST OF FORT WAYNE INDIANA TO 60
MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF SAGINAW MICHIGAN.

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 347...WW 348...WW 349...WW
350...WW 351...


DISCUSSION...INTENSE DEEPENING OF SURFACE LOW WELL UNDERWAY INTO WI.
 TORNADIC SUPERCELLS NOW SRN WI/IL WILL DEVELOP NEWD INTO WATCH AREA
AS SHEAR STRONGLY SUPPORTIVE COUPLED WITH INTENSE UPPER SUPPORT
APPROACHING FROM THE SW..

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23045.


...HALES

403,0865 435,0863 435,0834 403,0841

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 10, 8:05 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Benton, Jasper, Lake, Newton, Porter	6 hr
May 10, 8:41 PM EST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bartholomew, Boone, Brown, Clay, Crawford, Daviess and 39 more	2 hr
May 10, 8:45 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Posey	5 hr
May 10, 9:10 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Bartholomew, Boone, Brown, Clark, Clay, Clinton and 40 more	5 hr
May 10, 10:40 PM EST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	DeKalb, Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaGrange, LaPorte, Marshall and 5 more	2 hr
May 10, 10:56 PM EST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Benton, Jasper, Lake, Newton, Porter	94 min
May 10, 11:20 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Harrison, Perry, Spencer	6 hr
May 10, 11:28 PM EST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Dearborn, Fayette, Franklin, Jay, Ohio, Randolph and 4 more	2 hr
May 11, 1:46 AM EST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bartholomew, Boone, Brown, Clark, Clay, Clinton and 43 more	89 min
May 11, 2:56 AM EST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Alcona, Alpena, Antrim, Arenac, Clare, Crawford and 22 more	94 min
May 11, 9:30 AM EST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Ashland, Ashtabula, Athens, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana and 26 more	2 hr
May 11, 10:45 AM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Ashtabula, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Guernsey, Harrison and 5 more	5 hr
May 11, 1:52 PM EST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Ashtabula, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Guernsey, Harrison and 5 more	113 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Michigan, 2003 Tornado Watches in Indiana, 2003 Tornado Watches in Ohio, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.