Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 949

November 17, 200324 counties in Oklahoma; 42 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 17, 2003, 12:20 PM CST for 24 counties in Oklahoma; 42 counties in Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Nov 17, 2003, 12:20 PM CST (18:20 UTC)
Expired
Nov 17, 2003, 6:00 PM CST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 66 counties

Atoka County, OK, Bryan County, OK, Carter County, OK, Choctaw County, OK, Cleveland County, OK, Coal County, OK, Garvin County, OK, Haskell County, OK, Hughes County, OK, Jefferson County, OK, Johnston County, OK, Latimer County, OK, Love County, OK, Marshall County, OK, McClain County, OK, McIntosh County, OK, Murray County, OK, Okfuskee County, OK, Pittsburg County, OK, Pontotoc County, OK, Pottawatomie County, OK, Pushmataha County, OK, Seminole County, OK, Stephens County, OK, Bell County, TX, Bosque County, TX, Collin County, TX, Comanche County, TX, Cooke County, TX, Coryell County, TX, Dallas County, TX, Delta County, TX, Denton County, TX, Ellis County, TX, Erath County, TX, Falls County, TX, Fannin County, TX, Freestone County, TX, Grayson County, TX, Hamilton County, TX, Henderson County, TX, Hill County, TX, Hood County, TX, Hopkins County, TX, Hunt County, TX, Jack County, TX, Johnson County, TX, Kaufman County, TX, Lamar County, TX, Lampasas County, TX, Leon County, TX, Limestone County, TX, McLennan County, TX, Mills County, TX, Montague County, TX, Navarro County, TX, Palo Pinto County, TX, Parker County, TX, Rains County, TX, Robertson County, TX, Rockwall County, TX, San Saba County, TX, Somervell County, TX, Tarrant County, TX, Van Zandt County, TX, Wise County, TX

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 23 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:23 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 17, 2:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDDenton32 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

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 9 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-11-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1175 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-11-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 153 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1175 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
571 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
153 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 171823
SEL9  
SPC WW 171825
OKZ000-TXZ000-180000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 949 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
1225 PM CST MON NOV 17 2003

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

       SOUTHERN AND EASTERN OKLAHOMA
       CENTRAL AND NORTH TEXAS

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1225 PM UNTIL 600
PM CST.

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 85 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF MCALESTER OKLAHOMA TO
15 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF TEMPLE TEXAS.

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 948. WATCH NUMBER 948 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER
1225 PM CST. CONTINUE...WW 947...


DISCUSSION...MODEL GUIDANCE SUGGESTS THAT LOW/MID LEVEL WIND FIELDS
WILL INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON AS SHORTWAVE TROUGH OVER NORTHERN
MEXICO TRACKS INTO CENTRAL TX. AMPLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...SBCAPE
VALUES AROUND 2000 J/KG...MINIMAL CAP...AND FAVORABLE VERTICAL SHEAR
PROFILES INDICATE A SUSTAINED RISK OF SUPERCELLS CAPABLE OF A FEW
TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS.

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 24035.


...HART

352,0943 305,0960 305,0985 352,0973

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 17, 1:11 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Comanche and 18 more3 hr
Nov 17, 6:42 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCNowata, Osage, Washington3 hr
Nov 17, 7:43 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtoka, Bryan, Carter, Choctaw, Cleveland, Coal and 27 more3 hr
Nov 17, 8:15 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCAtoka, Bryan, Canadian, Carter, Cleveland, Coal and 37 more5 hr
Nov 17, 10:59 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtoka, Bryan, Canadian, Carter, Cleveland, Coal and 36 more91 min
Nov 17, 2:57 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtoka, Bryan, Choctaw, Coal, Haskell, Johnston and 6 more2 hr
Nov 17, 5:25 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCLeFlore, McCurtain65 min
Nov 16, 6:02 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArmstrong, Briscoe, Childress, Cottle, Crosby, Dickens and 12 more118 min
Nov 17, 7:11 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Angelina, Austin, Brazos, Burleson, Cherokee and 40 more3 hr
Nov 17, 8:20 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCAnderson, Angelina, Austin, Bastrop, Bell, Brazoria and 54 more5 hr
Nov 17, 9:58 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBandera, Bexar, Blanco, Brown, Burnet, Callahan and 36 more92 min
Nov 17, 10:21 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Fort Bend, Hardin, Harris and 6 more84 min
Nov 17, 11:50 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Angelina, Aransas, Austin, Bell, Bosque and 75 more85 min
Nov 17, 12:45 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCBrazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Colorado, DeWitt, Fort Bend and 15 more5 hr
Nov 17, 3:02 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAustin, Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Colorado, DeWitt and 16 more88 min
Nov 17, 5:07 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAngelina, Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston and 14 more53 min
Nov 17, 5:35 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCChambers, Galveston, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Newton and 2 more6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Texas, 2003Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 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.