Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 661

July 6, 200312 counties in Minnesota; Douglas County, Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 6, 2003, 8:05 PM CDT for 12 counties in Minnesota; Douglas County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 6, 2003, 8:05 PM CDT (01:05 UTC)
Expired
Jul 7, 2003, 2:00 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Aitkin County, MN, Carlton County, MN, Cass County, MN, Cook County, MN, Crow Wing County, MN, Itasca County, MN, Lake County, MN, Morrison County, MN, Pine County, MN, Saint Louis County, MN, Todd County, MN, Wadena County, MN, Douglas County, WI

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 6, 8:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCook, Lake63 min
Jul 6, 8:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDouglas, Todd63 min
Jul 6, 9:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCarlton, Pine53 min
Jul 6, 9:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHLake, Saint Louis21 min
Jul 6, 9:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHSaint Louis17 min
Jul 6, 9:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCook, Lake49 min
Jul 7, 12:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHSaint Louis65 min
Jul 7, 1:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMorrison, Todd34 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

International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 190 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, International Fa, MN at 00:00Z on 2003-07-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, International Fa, MN at 00:00Z on 2003-07-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -184 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1757 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-184 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 070106
SEL1  
SPC WW 070105
MNZ000-WIZ000-LSZ000-070700-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 661 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
805 PM CDT SUN JUL 6 2003

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

       NORTHEAST MINNESOTA
       EXTREME NORTHWEST WISCONSIN
       LAKE SUPERIOR

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING FROM 805 PM UNTIL
200 AM 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 80 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES SOUTH OF BRAINERD MINNESOTA TO 30 MILES
NORTHEAST OF ELY MINNESOTA.

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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 656. WATCH NUMBER 656 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 805
PM CDT. CONTINUE...WW 657...WW 658...WW 659...WW 660...


DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS/SUPERCELLS ALONG PREFRONTAL TROUGH IN N
CNTRL/NE MN EXPECTED TO CONTINUE EWD THROUGH LATE EVENING AS
SUPPORTING UPPER IMPULSE CONTINUES E ACROSS SRN CANADA.

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 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27035.


...CORFIDI

455,0954 481,0930 481,0893 455,0922

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 6, 7:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAnoka, Benton, Big Stone, Brown, Carver, Chippewa and 30 more6 hr
Jul 6, 10:31 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAitkin, Carlton, Cook, Crow Wing, Kanabec, Morrison and 2 more119 min
Jul 6, 11:06 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnoka, Benton, Brown, Carver, Chippewa, Chisago and 28 more114 min
Jul 7, 1:25 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarver, Dakota, Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue and 14 more95 min
Jul 7, 2:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCDodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted and 4 more4 hr
Jul 7, 2:56 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnoka, Benton, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin and 9 more2 hr
Jul 7, 4:22 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFillmore, Houston, Olmsted, Winona83 min
Jul 6, 8:46 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKenosha, Milwaukee, Racine, Rock, Walworth, Waukesha59 min
Jul 7, 12:54 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Brown, Calumet, Columbia, Dane, Dodge and 21 more66 min
Jul 7, 2:35 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Brown, Calumet, Columbia, Crawford, Dane and 32 more115 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 2003Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 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.