Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Topeka, KS

May 8, 2003Douglas County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2003, 7:38 PM CDT for Douglas County, Kansas. It was in force for 22 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, 7:38 PM CDT (00:38 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 2003, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
22 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Douglas County, KS

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:41 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 00:00Z, 0.6 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 00:00Z on 2003-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1679 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 00:00Z on 2003-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 247 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 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
1679 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
807 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
247 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
271 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.1
Supercell composite
9.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

680 
WFUS53 KTOP 090038
TORTOP
KSC045-090100-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN DOUGLAS COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 800 PM CDT

* AT 734 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 4 MILES WEST OF
  EUDORA...OR ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LAWRENCE...MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 45 MPH.

FOR YOUR SAFETY...GO TO A STORM SHELTER OR BASEMENT NOW TORNADOES
MAY HAVE WINDS GREATER THAN 100 MPH. AVOID OVERPASSES AND WINDOWS.
COVER YOUR HEAD.

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

LAT...LON 3905 9541 3885 9531 3879 9506 3896 9507
          3896 9518

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 7:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPBrown27 min
May 8, 7:03 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPJackson, Jefferson42 min
May 8, 7:21 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPAnderson39 min
May 8, 7:39 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPDouglas21 min
May 8, 7:41 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPDouglas19 min
May 8, 7:43 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPJefferson17 min
May 8, 8:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas, Jefferson28 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.