Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 640

July 4, 20035 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 4, 2003, 9:05 PM CDT for 5 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 4, 2003, 9:05 PM CDT (02:05 UTC)
Expired
Jul 5, 2003, 3:00 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 101 counties

Audubon County, IA, Buena Vista County, IA, Calhoun County, IA, Carroll County, IA, Cass County, IA, Cherokee County, IA, Clay County, IA, Crawford County, IA, Dickinson County, IA, Emmet County, IA, Fremont County, IA, Greene County, IA, Guthrie County, IA, Hancock County, IA, Harrison County, IA, Humboldt County, IA, Ida County, IA, Kossuth County, IA, Lyon County, IA, Mills County, IA, Monona County, IA, Montgomery County, IA, O'Brien County, IA, Osceola County, IA, Page County, IA, Palo Alto County, IA, Plymouth County, IA, Pocahontas County, IA, Pottawattamie County, IA, Sac County, IA, Shelby County, IA, Sioux County, IA, Webster County, IA, Winnebago County, IA, Woodbury County, IA, Worth County, IA, Wright County, IA, Blue Earth County, MN, Cottonwood County, MN, Dodge County, MN, Faribault County, MN, Freeborn County, MN, Jackson County, MN, Martin County, MN, Murray County, MN, Nobles County, MN, Pipestone County, MN, Rock County, MN, Steele County, MN, Waseca County, MN, Watonwan County, MN, Atchison County, MO, Adams County, NE, Boone County, NE, Burt County, NE, Butler County, NE, Cass County, NE, Cedar County, NE, Clay County, NE, Colfax County, NE, Cuming County, NE, Dakota County, NE, Dixon County, NE, Dodge County, NE, Douglas County, NE, Fillmore County, NE, Franklin County, NE, Gage County, NE, Hall County, NE, Hamilton County, NE, Howard County, NE, Jefferson County, NE, Johnson County, NE, Kearney County, NE, Lancaster County, NE, Madison County, NE, Merrick County, NE, Nance County, NE, Nemaha County, NE, Nuckolls County, NE, Otoe County, NE, Pawnee County, NE, Pierce County, NE, Platte County, NE, Polk County, NE, Richardson County, NE, Saline County, NE, Sarpy County, NE, Saunders County, NE, Seward County, NE, Stanton County, NE, Thayer County, NE, Thurston County, NE, Washington County, NE, Wayne County, NE, Webster County, NE, York County, NE, Clay County, SD, Lincoln County, SD, Minnehaha County, SD, Union County, SD

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:06 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 9:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDPlymouth, Woodbury37 min
Jul 4, 10:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDCherokee, Ida29 min
Jul 4, 10:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXWayne49 min
Jul 4, 10:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDMinnehaha44 min
Jul 4, 10:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPocahontas49 min
Jul 4, 10:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXCuming, Thurston59 min
Jul 4, 10:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDIda28 min
Jul 4, 10:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHumboldt41 min
Jul 4, 10:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDBuena Vista24 min
Jul 4, 10:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXSac60 min
Jul 4, 10:40 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXThurston50 min
Jul 4, 10:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCalhoun56 min
Jul 4, 10:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDIda34 min
Jul 4, 11:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDWoodbury45 min
Jul 4, 11:03 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFSDIda, Woodbury117 min
Jul 4, 11:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXMonona54 min
Jul 4, 11:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHumboldt61 min
Jul 4, 11:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWright59 min
Jul 4, 11:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDIda31 min
Jul 4, 11:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXThurston46 min
Jul 4, 11:32 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXMonona43 min
Jul 4, 11:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWebster57 min
Jul 4, 11:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCalhoun63 min
Jul 4, 11:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGreene65 min
Jul 5, 12:13 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCrawford62 min
Jul 5, 12:17 AM CDTTornado WarningOAXMonona28 min
Jul 5, 1:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCarroll43 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

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 51 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2003-07-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2181 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2003-07-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 234 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2181 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-160 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1546 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
234 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
386 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 050206
SEL0  
SPC WW 050205
IAZ000-MNZ000-NEZ000-050800-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 640 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
905 PM CDT FRI JUL 4 2003

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

       WESTERN AND CENTRAL IOWA
       SOUTHERN MINNESOTA
       EASTERN AND SOUTHERN NEBRASKA

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING FROM 905 PM UNTIL
300 AM 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 100 STATUTE MILES EAST AND
WEST OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTH OF FAIRMONT MINNESOTA TO 40
MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF BEATRICE 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 638...WW 639...


DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER ERN NEB/WRN IA
DURING NEXT FEW HOURS...WHERE LOW LEVEL WARMTH/MOISTURE ADVECTION
SHOULD INCREASE INVOF WEAK WSW/ENE-ORIENTED FRONT.  OTHER STORMS
ASSOCIATED WITH SE SD MCS WILL MOVE INTO NRN HALF OF WATCH AND
DEVELOP EWD ALONG BOUNDARY STALLED W/E ACROSS SRN MN.  MODERATE
WNWLY DEEP SHEAR ASSOCIATED WITH 50+ KT MID LEVEL JET CROSSING
SD/MN...AND LOW LEVEL DIRECTIONAL SHEAR...SUGGEST POTENTIAL FOR
TORNADOES IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL/HIGH WIND.

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

441,0922 400,0953 400,0991 441,0962

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 8:43 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAudubon, Buena Vista, Calhoun, Carroll, Cherokee, Clay and 20 more62 min
Jul 4, 10:45 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Audubon, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan and 68 more90 min
Jul 4, 11:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdair, Adams, Allamakee, Appanoose, Benton, Black Hawk and 56 more7 hr
Jul 5, 2:31 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCedar, Clayton, Clinton, Delaware, Des Moines, Dubuque and 10 more89 min
Jul 5, 12:19 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHarrison, Monona2 hr
Jul 5, 3:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCHarrison, Mills, Monona, Plymouth, Pottawattamie, Woodbury7 hr
Jul 5, 5:18 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Boone, Carroll and 37 more57 min
Jul 5, 5:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Cass, Clarke and 30 more6 hr
Jul 5, 6:42 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Page, Pottawattamie and 1 more93 min
Jul 4, 7:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAntelope, Blaine, Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Garfield and 9 more5 hr
Jul 4, 9:52 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAntelope, Blaine, Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Garfield and 9 more83 min
Jul 4, 11:21 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAntelope, Blaine, Boyd, Brown, Garfield, Holt and 6 more24 min
Jul 5, 6:44 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAntelope, Blaine, Boone, Brown, Cherry, Garfield and 12 more2 hr
Jul 5, 3:23 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChase, Dundy, Frontier, Hayes, Hitchcock, Red Willow2 hr
Jul 5, 3:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCChase, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Gosper, Hayes and 3 more6 hr
Jul 5, 5:06 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChase, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Gosper, Hayes and 3 more84 min
Jul 5, 4:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAurora, Beadle, Brule, Buffalo, Clark, Dewey and 20 more65 min
Jul 5, 4:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBennett, Brule, Buffalo, Butte, Campbell, Charles Mix and 28 more5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2003Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2003Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 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.