Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 554

June 20, 200324 counties in Kansas; 8 counties in Nebraska

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 20, 2003, 5:25 PM CDT for 24 counties in Kansas; 8 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jun 20, 2003, 5:25 PM CDT (22:25 UTC)
Expired: Jun 20, 2003, 11:00 PM CDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 32 counties

Cheyenne County, KS, Decatur County, KS, Finney County, KS, Gove County, KS, Grant County, KS, Gray County, KS, Greeley County, KS, Hamilton County, KS, Haskell County, KS, Kearny County, KS, Lane County, KS, Logan County, KS, Meade County, KS, Morton County, KS, Rawlins County, KS, Scott County, KS, Seward County, KS, Sheridan County, KS, Sherman County, KS, Stanton County, KS, Stevens County, KS, Thomas County, KS, Wallace County, KS, Wichita County, KS, Chase County, NE, Dundy County, NE, Frontier County, NE, Hayes County, NE, Hitchcock County, NE, Lincoln County, NE, Perkins County, NE, Red Willow County, NE

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:27 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 20, 5:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Perkins	64 min
Jun 20, 7:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Chase	63 min
Jun 20, 8:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Keith, Perkins	53 min
Jun 20, 8:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Cheyenne	65 min
Jun 20, 9:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Chase	65 min
Jun 20, 10:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Perkins	32 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

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 192 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: 5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -94 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 677 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 158 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 177 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 202226
SEL4  
SPC WW 202225
KSZ000-NEZ000-210400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 554 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
525 PM CDT FRI JUN 20 2003

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

       WESTERN KANSAS
       SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 525 PM UNTIL 1100
PM 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 50 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF IMPERIAL NEBRASKA TO 5
MILES SOUTHWEST OF LIBERAL 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...CONTINUE...WW 547...WW 548...WW 549...WW
550...WW 551...WW 552...WW 553...


DISCUSSION...INCREASING LARGE SCALE ASCENT AHEAD OF SHORTWAVE TROUGH
NOW LIFTING NEWD OUT OF THE SRN ROCKIES WILL AID IN SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT OVER THE NEXT HOUR OR SO INTO WRN KS AND
SWRN NEB.  WITH MODERATE INSTABILITY AND SFC-6 KM SHEAR VALUES
AROUND 30 KT...STORMS SHOULD ORGANIZE INTO ISOLATED SUPERCELLS AND
SMALL LINES.  LOW LEVEL SHEAR/HELICITY VALUES REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR
POSSIBLE TORNADOES.

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 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22025.


...EVANS

410,1002 365,1000 365,1015 410,1021 

WWUS20 KWNS 202226
SEL4  
SPC WW 202225
KSZ000-NEZ000-210400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 554 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
525 PM CDT FRI JUN 20 2003

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

       WESTERN KANSAS
       SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 525 PM UNTIL 1100
PM 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 50 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF IMPERIAL NEBRASKA TO 5
MILES SOUTHWEST OF LIBERAL 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...CONTINUE...WW 547...WW 548...WW 549...WW
550...WW 551...WW 552...WW 553...


DISCUSSION...INCREASING LARGE SCALE ASCENT AHEAD OF SHORTWAVE TROUGH
NOW LIFTING NEWD OUT OF THE SRN ROCKIES WILL AID IN SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT OVER THE NEXT HOUR OR SO INTO WRN KS AND
SWRN NEB.  WITH MODERATE INSTABILITY AND SFC-6 KM SHEAR VALUES
AROUND 30 KT...STORMS SHOULD ORGANIZE INTO ISOLATED SUPERCELLS AND
SMALL LINES.  LOW LEVEL SHEAR/HELICITY VALUES REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR
POSSIBLE TORNADOES.

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 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22025.


...EVANS

410,1002 365,1000 365,1015 410,1021

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 20, 5:12 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Cheyenne, Clark, Decatur, Finney, Ford, Gove and 25 more	63 min
Jun 20, 2:41 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Banner, Box Butte, Dawes, Kimball, Morrill, Scotts Bluff and 1 more	2 hr
Jun 20, 3:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Arthur, Banner, Box Butte, Cheyenne, Dawes, Deuel and 8 more	7 hr
Jun 20, 6:45 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Arthur, Dawes, Deuel, Garden, Grant, Keith and 1 more	60 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2003 Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 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.