Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Topeka, KS

May 8, 2003Douglas County, Franklin County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2003, 6:54 PM CDT for Douglas County, Franklin County, Kansas. It was in force for 51 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
May 8, 2003, 6:54 PM CDT (23:54 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 2003, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Douglas County, KS, Franklin County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:53 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 8, 1:50 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr
May 8, 4:40 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 35 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2003-05-08Temperature 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2003-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 427 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
836 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
427 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
517 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

792 
WFUS53 KTOP 082354
TORTOP
KSC045-059-090045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
654 PM CDT THU MAY 8 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN DOUGLAS COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
  NORTHWESTERN FRANKLIN COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 745 PM CDT

* AT 648 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 30 MILES WEST OF
  BALDWIN CITY...OR ABOUT 24 MILES WEST OF OTTAWA...MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 45 MPH.

IF A TORNADO APPROACHES...GO TO A BASEMENT OR SEEK SHELTER IN A
HALLWAY OR CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING. USE BLANKETS
OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR HEAD AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

LEAVE MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES...AND GO TO A BASEMENT OR STORM
SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH
OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD. AVOID OVERPASSES.

STAY TUNED TO WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR THE LATEST
SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION.

LAT...LON 3884 9549 3861 9550 3879 9506 3896 9507
          3896 9518

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Topeka, KS issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 3:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson, Morris33 min
May 8, 3:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCloud47 min
May 8, 4:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMorris44 min
May 8, 4:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson36 min
May 8, 4:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson, Geary28 min
May 8, 5:04 AM CDTTornado WarningTOPGeary, Riley26 min
May 8, 7:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPAnderson, Coffey52 min
May 8, 7:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPAnderson32 min
May 8, 8:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall, Nemaha57 min
May 8, 3:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCloud, Republic49 min
May 8, 3:24 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPCloud, Republic66 min
May 8, 3:50 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPCloud, Republic, Washington40 min
May 8, 4:26 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPWashington34 min
May 8, 4:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas, Franklin30 min
May 8, 4:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPWashington38 min
May 8, 5:11 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPWashington34 min
May 8, 5:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPGeary, Pottawatomie, Riley53 min
May 8, 5:27 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPMarshall33 min
May 8, 5:31 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPGeary44 min
May 8, 5:41 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPGeary, Pottawatomie, Riley, Wabaunsee49 min
May 8, 5:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPLyon, Morris, Wabaunsee43 min
May 8, 5:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPLyon, Osage52 min
May 8, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall45 min
May 8, 6:06 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPMarshall39 min
May 8, 6:13 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPJackson, Pottawatomie47 min
May 8, 6:29 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPOsage46 min
May 8, 6:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPShawnee, Wabaunsee42 min
May 8, 6:38 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPCoffey52 min
May 8, 6:44 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPShawnee, Wabaunsee46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.