Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 552
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 20, 2003, 3:45 PM CDT for Cimarron County, Texas County, Oklahoma; 28 counties in Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jun 20, 2003, 3:45 PM CDT (20:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 20, 2003, 10:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 30 counties
Cimarron County, OK, Texas County, OK, Armstrong County, TX, Bailey County, TX, Briscoe County, TX, Carson County, TX, Castro County, TX, Cochran County, TX, Crosby County, TX, Dallam County, TX, Deaf Smith County, TX, Floyd County, TX, Garza County, TX, Hale County, TX, Hansford County, TX, Hartley County, TX, Hockley County, TX, Hutchinson County, TX, Lamb County, TX, Lubbock County, TX, Lynn County, TX, Moore County, TX, Oldham County, TX, Parmer County, TX, Potter County, TX, Randall County, TX, Sherman County, TX, Swisher County, TX, Terry County, TX, Yoakum County, TX
The radar
The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 89 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:47 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
14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 4:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Hartley | 64 min |
| Jun 20, 5:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Hartley | 49 min |
| Jun 20, 6:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Deaf Smith | 52 min |
| Jun 20, 6:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Moore, Potter | 61 min |
| Jun 20, 6:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Oldham | 50 min |
| Jun 20, 6:58 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LUB | Bailey | 62 min |
| Jun 20, 7:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Cochran | 37 min |
| Jun 20, 7:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Parmer | 49 min |
| Jun 20, 7:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Lamb | 53 min |
| Jun 20, 8:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Cochran | 45 min |
| Jun 20, 8:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Hockley | 49 min |
| Jun 20, 8:30 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | AMA | Potter, Randall | 2 hr |
| Jun 20, 8:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Lamb | 45 min |
| Jun 20, 9:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Hockley | 45 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
Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 89 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1342 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 199 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 220 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 202046
SEL2
SPC WW 202045
OKZ000-TXZ000-210300-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 552
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
345 PM CDT FRI JUN 20 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE
THE TEXAS PANHANDLE AND WEST TEXAS
EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 345 PM UNTIL 1000
PM CDT.
TORNADOES...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 10 MILES WEST OF ELKHART KANSAS TO 50 MILES SOUTH
SOUTHWEST OF LUBBOCK 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 547...WW 548...WW 549...WW
550...WW 551...
DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS/SUPERCELLS EXPECTED TO MOVE/DEVELOP ENE
FROM ERN NM...ALONG RETREATING SURFACE FRONT OVER PANHANDLES REGION.
MOIST SELY LOW LEVEL MOISTURE INFLOW AND INCREASING DEEP SHEAR
ASSOCIATED WITH BAND OF STRONGER MID LEVEL WINDS ROUNDING BASE OF
SRN STREAM TROUGH SUGGEST POTENTIAL FOR A COUPLE TORNADOES IN
ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL/HIGH WINDS.
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 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25030.
...CORFIDI
370,1010 330,1011 330,1030 370,1030SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 3:21 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cimarron | 114 min |
| Jun 20, 6:30 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaver, Beckham, Ellis, Greer, Harmon, Harper and 2 more | 2 hr |
| Jun 20, 2:28 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Briscoe, Cochran, Crosby, Dickens, Floyd, Garza and 9 more | 92 min |
| Jun 20, 12:14 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Culberson, Loving, Reeves, Ward, Winkler | 2 hr |
| Jun 20, 4:34 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Andrews, Crane, Crockett, Ector, Loving, Midland and 7 more | 116 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Texas, 2003Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 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.