Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 34, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 4, 2003Sebastian County, Arkansas

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 4, 2003, 6:30 PM CDT for Sebastian County, Arkansas. It was in force for 60 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 4, 2003, 6:30 PM CDT (23:30 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 2003, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Sebastian County, AR

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 33 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:29 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 4, 12:35 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr
May 4, 6:05 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 217 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2003-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 50 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2003-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 282 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
50 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-362 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
735 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
282 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
474 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

999 
WFUS54 KTSA 042330
TORTUL
ARC131-050030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
628 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  SOUTHERN SEBASTIAN COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT

* AT 628 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 30    
  MILES WEST OF HARTFORD. THE CIRCULATION ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STORM 
  WILL MOVE ACROSS EXTREME SOUTHERN SEBASTIAN COUNTY.  THIS          
  DANGEROUS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...HARTFORD...
  HUNTINGTON...MIDLAND AND MANSFIELD.

THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE NEAR ITS PATH YOU SHOULD 
PREPARE FOR LARGE DAMAGING HAIL TO THE SIZE OF BASEBALLS...VIOLENT STRAIGHT 
LINE WINDS AND POSSIBLY A TORNADO. IF NO UNDERGROUND SHELTER IS 
AVAILABLE TAKE COVER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR IN AN INTERIOR ROOM AWAY 
FROM WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 3513 9444 3480 9447 3479 9413 3513 9414

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 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.