Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 700
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 9, 2003, 3:15 PM CDT for 11 counties in Illinois; 19 counties in Iowa; 6 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 9, 2003, 3:15 PM CDT (20:15 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 9, 2003, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 36 counties
Allamakee County, IA, Buchanan County, IA, Cedar County, IA, Clayton County, IA, Clinton County, IA, Delaware County, IA, Des Moines County, IA, Dubuque County, IA, Fayette County, IA, Henry County, IA, Jackson County, IA, Johnson County, IA, Jones County, IA, Linn County, IA, Louisa County, IA, Muscatine County, IA, Scott County, IA, Washington County, IA, Winneshiek County, IA, Carroll County, IL, Henderson County, IL, Henry County, IL, Jo Daviess County, IL, Knox County, IL, Mercer County, IL, Peoria County, IL, Rock Island County, IL, Stark County, IL, Warren County, IL, Whiteside County, IL, Crawford County, WI, Grant County, WI, Iowa County, WI, Lafayette County, WI, Richland County, WI, Sauk County, WI
The radar
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:14 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
4 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 7:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX | Peoria | 66 min |
| Jul 9, 8:38 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Warren | 32 min |
| Jul 9, 8:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Henry | 48 min |
| Jul 9, 8:59 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Henry | 31 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
Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 80 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
- 70 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -307 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 609 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 24 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 195 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 226 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 3.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 092017
SEL0
SPC WW 092015
IAZ000-ILZ000-WIZ000-100200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 700
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
315 PM CDT WED JUL 9 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EASTERN IOWA
NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN WISCONSIN
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 315 PM UNTIL
900 PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF LONEROCK WISCONSIN TO 20
MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF BURLINGTON IOWA.
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 695...WW 696...WW 697...WW
698...WW 699...
DISCUSSION...STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE WW DURING THE
NEXT FEW HOURS AS SHORTWAVE TROUGH APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. AIR
MASS WILL CONTINUE DESTABILIZING AND DEEP LAYER SHEAR OF 40-50 KT
WILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR SUPERCELLS. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE
EXPECTED TO BE THE MAIN THREAT. HOWEVER...THE SHEAR ALSO SUGGESTS
THAT TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE..ESPECIALLY WITH STORMS THAT INTERSECT
BOUNDARY THAT EXTENDS FROM NEAR ALO TO NORTHEAST OF MLI.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
550. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27030.
...IMY
432,0894 403,0893 403,0915 432,0920
WWUS20 KWNS 092017
SEL0
SPC WW 092015
IAZ000-ILZ000-WIZ000-100200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 700
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
315 PM CDT WED JUL 9 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EASTERN IOWA
NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN WISCONSIN
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 315 PM UNTIL
900 PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF LONEROCK WISCONSIN TO 20
MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF BURLINGTON IOWA.
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 695...WW 696...WW 697...WW
698...WW 699...
DISCUSSION...STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE WW DURING THE
NEXT FEW HOURS AS SHORTWAVE TROUGH APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. AIR
MASS WILL CONTINUE DESTABILIZING AND DEEP LAYER SHEAR OF 40-50 KT
WILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR SUPERCELLS. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE
EXPECTED TO BE THE MAIN THREAT. HOWEVER...THE SHEAR ALSO SUGGESTS
THAT TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE..ESPECIALLY WITH STORMS THAT INTERSECT
BOUNDARY THAT EXTENDS FROM NEAR ALO TO NORTHEAST OF MLI.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
550. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27030.
...IMY
432,0894 403,0893 403,0915 432,0920SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 8, 8:59 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Brown, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clark and 36 more | 2 hr |
| Jul 8, 10:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bond, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay and 27 more | 5 hr |
| Jul 9, 2:21 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bond, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay and 27 more | 114 min |
| Jul 9, 9:54 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bureau, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Coles, Crawford and 28 more | 96 min |
| Jul 9, 11:10 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bureau, Champaign, Clark, Coles, DeWitt, Douglas and 17 more | 6 hr |
| Jul 9, 12:34 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Clinton, Effingham and 17 more | 56 min |
| Jul 9, 1:35 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Champaign, Coles, Douglas, Edgar, Ford, Grundy and 4 more | 55 min |
| Jul 9, 3:12 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clark, Edgar, Kankakee | 33 min |
| Jul 9, 5:04 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Champaign, Christian, Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland and 18 more | 86 min |
| Jul 9, 5:25 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Coles, Cumberland and 24 more | 4 hr |
| Jul 9, 5:38 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bureau, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Knox and 12 more | 97 min |
| Jul 9, 1:10 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Boone, Buena Vista and 55 more | 6 hr |
| Jul 9, 4:15 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Boone, Buena Vista and 50 more | 2 hr |
| Jul 9, 1:08 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adair, Adams, Audubon, Benton, Black Hawk, Boone and 47 more | 67 min |
| Jul 9, 2:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Benton, Black Hawk and 65 more | 6 hr |
| Jul 9, 2:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Pierce | 6 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2003Tornado Watches in Illinois, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.