Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 45, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 8, 2003Washington County, Oklahoma

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2003, 7:19 PM CDT for Washington County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 56 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, 7:19 PM CDT (00:19 UTC)
Expired: May 8, 2003, 8:15 PM CDT
In force: 56 min
Issued by: NWS Tulsa, OK
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Washington County, OK

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:22 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, 5:45 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 183 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: 1898 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -50 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1059 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 226 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 290 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 3.2
Supercell composite: 17.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

385 
WFUS54 KTSA 090019
TORTUL
OKC147-090115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
719 PM CDT THU MAY 8 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN WASHINGTON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT

* AT 719 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM 27
  MILES WEST OF COPAN...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. STORM SPOTTERS   
  REPORTED A LARGE DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO ON THE GROUND THIS IS A LIFE 
  THREATENING SITUATION...TAKE COVER NOW

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...COPAN.

THIS IS A LARGE AND DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO PEOPLE NEAR ITS PATH SHOULD
TAKE COVER NOW. IF NO UNDERGROUND SHELTER IS AVAILABLE MOVE TO AN
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES SHOULD
BE ABANDONED FOR MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. AVOID WINDOWS ACT QUICKLY
- YOUR LIFE MAY DEPEND ON IT

IN ADDITION TO THE TORNADO...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE
WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. GO TO A SAFE PLACE NOW

LAT...LON 3699 9579 3695 9579 3692 9582 3685 9582
          3679 9601 3699 9600

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tulsa, OK issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 8, 8:10 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TSA	Nowata	50 min
May 9, 5:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Osage, Pawnee	54 min
May 9, 5:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TSA	Creek	63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 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.