Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Topeka, KS

May 8, 2003Jefferson County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2003, 7:43 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Kansas. It was in force for 17 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, 7:43 PM CDT (00:43 UTC)
Expired: May 8, 2003, 8:00 PM CDT
In force: 17 min
Issued by: NWS Topeka, KS
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Jefferson County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:44 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 8, 1:50 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr
May 8, 4:40 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 50 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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.

000 
WFUS53 KTOP 090043
TORTOP
KSC087-090100-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN JEFFERSON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST KANSAS

* UNTIL 800 PM CDT

* AT 736 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 3 MILES WEST OF
  WINCHESTER...OR ABOUT 19 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ATCHISON...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED...
  WINCHESTER
  NORTONVILLE

THIS WARNING REPLACES THE PREVIOUS TORNADO WARNING FOR JEFFERSON 
COUNTY.

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING A TORNADO.

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.

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 3940 9535 3927 9535 3929 9518 3941 9517

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 8, 7:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Brown	27 min
May 8, 7:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Jackson, Jefferson	42 min
May 8, 7:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Anderson	39 min
May 8, 7:38 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Douglas	22 min
May 8, 7:39 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Douglas	21 min
May 8, 7:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Douglas	19 min
May 8, 8:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Douglas, Jefferson	28 min

Nearby

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