Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 571

June 23, 2003Norton County, Phillips County, Smith County, Kansas; 17 counties in Nebraska

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 23, 2003, 8:20 PM CDT for Norton County, Phillips County, Smith County, Kansas; 17 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 23, 2003, 8:20 PM CDT (01:20 UTC)
Expired
Jun 23, 2003, 11:00 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Norton County, KS, Phillips County, KS, Smith County, KS, Adams County, NE, Buffalo County, NE, Clay County, NE, Fillmore County, NE, Franklin County, NE, Furnas County, NE, Gosper County, NE, Hall County, NE, Hamilton County, NE, Harlan County, NE, Kearney County, NE, Nuckolls County, NE, Phelps County, NE, Polk County, NE, Thayer County, NE, Webster County, NE, York County, NE

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:20 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 23, 8:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDFurnas62 min
Jun 23, 9:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDGosper65 min
Jun 23, 9:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDHamilton, Polk64 min
Jun 23, 9:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDFurnas78 min
Jun 23, 9:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDNorton59 min
Jun 23, 9:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDBuffalo66 min
Jun 23, 10:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDGosper29 min
Jun 23, 10:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDPhelps44 min
Jun 23, 10:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDBuffalo23 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 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 164 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 2003-06-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4886 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 2003-06-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 149 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
4886 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1084 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
149 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
351 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
7.9
Supercell composite
32.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 240118
SEL1  
SPC WW 240120
KSZ000-NEZ000-240400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 571 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
820 PM CDT MON JUN 23 2003

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

       NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS
       SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY EVENING FROM 820 PM UNTIL 1100 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 45 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 70 MILES SOUTHWEST OF KEARNEY NEBRASKA TO 55
MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF GRAND ISLAND NEBRASKA.

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 567...WW 568...WW 569...WW
570...


DISCUSSION...EXPLOSIVE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT NOW OCCURRING
OVER NWRN KS WILL TRACK ENEWD JUST SOUTH OF TORNADO WATCH 568 THIS
EVENING.  THERMODYNAMIC AND KINEMATIC PROFILES SUGGEST LONG-LIVED
SUPERCELLS WITH ATTENDANT THREATS OF TORNADOES AND VERY LARGE HAIL.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 4 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 600.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24020.


...EVANS

403,0995 411,0972 400,0972 392,0995

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 23, 8:17 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCloud, Jewell, Phillips, Republic, Smith58 min
Jun 24, 11:43 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrown, Doniphan2 hr
Jun 24, 3:47 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCheyenne, Decatur, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman, Thomas88 min
Jun 24, 3:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCheyenne, Decatur, Gove, Graham, Logan, Norton and 5 more6 hr
Jun 24, 3:56 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrown, Doniphan64 min
Jun 24, 5:48 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFinney, Grant, Gray, Hamilton, Haskell, Kearny and 8 more117 min
Jun 24, 6:30 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCheyenne, Decatur, Gove, Graham, Logan, Norton and 6 more2 hr
Jun 23, 8:34 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCheyenne, Deuel, Kimball86 min
Jun 23, 8:55 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBurt, Cass, Douglas, Gage, Jefferson, Johnson and 11 more4 hr
Jun 23, 9:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoyd65 min
Jun 23, 9:10 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBanner, Box Butte, Cheyenne, Deuel, Garden, Kimball and 3 more4 hr
Jun 23, 10:38 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCedar, Dakota, Dixon, Pierce, Wayne67 min
Jun 23, 10:50 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdams, Antelope, Boone, Buffalo, Butler, Cedar and 26 more5 hr
Jun 23, 10:50 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCArthur, Blaine, Chase, Custer, Dawson, Frontier and 10 more5 hr
Jun 23, 11:08 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBanner, Box Butte, Cheyenne, Garden, Grant, Kimball and 3 more67 min
Jun 23, 11:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBoyd, Brown, Cherry, Grant, Holt, Hooker and 3 more6 hr
Jun 24, 12:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBanner, Cheyenne, Deuel, Garden, Kimball, Morrill and 1 more3 hr
Jun 24, 1:52 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAntelope, Blaine, Cedar, Dakota, Dixon, Garfield and 9 more53 min
Jun 24, 2:44 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoyd, Brown, Cherry, Grant, Holt, Hooker and 3 more2 hr
Jun 24, 1:29 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAntelope, Blaine, Boone, Boyd, Brown, Buffalo and 22 more3 hr
Jun 24, 2:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAntelope, Blaine, Boyd, Brown, Cedar, Cherry and 18 more8 hr
Jun 24, 5:59 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAntelope, Blaine, Boyd, Brown, Cedar, Dixon and 11 more61 min

Nearby

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