Alert archive / California / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Sacramento, CA

March 16, 2003Colusa County, California

NWS Sacramento, CA issued this tornado warning at Mar 16, 2003, 3:25 PM PST for Colusa County, California. It was in force for 45 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 16, 2003, 3:25 PM PST (23:25 UTC)
Expired
Mar 16, 2003, 4:10 PM PST
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Sacramento, CA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Colusa County, CA

The nearest sounding before it

Oakland, CA (KOAK), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 151 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, Oakland, CA at 12:00Z on 2003-03-16Temperature 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, Oakland, CA at 12:00Z on 2003-03-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 square meters per square second.1939587897117136156Sfc1 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
744 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

826 
WFUS56 KSTO 162325
TORSTO
CAC011-170000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
325 PM PST SUN MAR 16 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHWESTERN COLUSA COUNTY IN CALIFORNIA

* VALID UNTIL 410 PM PST

* AT 320 PM PST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
  A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER SOUTHWESTERN COLUSA COUNTY...OR ABOUT 19 
  MILES NORTHWEST OF RUMSEY...MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS POSSIBLE TORNADO INCLUDE...WILBUR 
  SPRINGS...AND THE INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAY 16 AND 20 NORTH OF 
  RUMSEY.

LAT...LON 3922 12238 3909 12248 3894 12235 3895 12218

$$
DFR/HS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Sacramento, CA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 16, 1:48 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSTOGlenn, Tehama42 min
Mar 16, 2:12 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSTOSolano43 min
Mar 16, 2:44 PM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSTOColusa, Lake46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in California, 2003Every tornado warning in 2003Tornadoes 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.