Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 68, NWS Tulsa, OK

May 16, 2003Sequoyah County, Oklahoma; Crawford County, Sebastian County, Arkansas

NWS Tulsa, OK issued this tornado warning at May 16, 2003, 4:04 PM CDT for Sequoyah County, Oklahoma; Crawford County, Sebastian County, Arkansas. 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 16, 2003, 4:04 PM CDT (21:04 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 2003, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Tulsa, OK
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Crawford County, AR, Sebastian County, AR, Sequoyah County, OK

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 9 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:05 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 16, 12:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr
May 16, 12:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2003-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 189 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 2003-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 178 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
189 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-176 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
777 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
178 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
168 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

928 
WFUS54 KTSA 162104
TORTUL
ARC033-131-OKC135-162200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
402 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  SOUTHEASTERN SEQUOYAH COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
  SOUTHERN CRAWFORD COUNTY IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
  SEBASTIAN COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS

* UNTIL 500 PM CDT

* AT 402 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 20   
MILES SOUTHWEST OF HACKETT. A SECOND STRONG ROTATION WAS NEAR 
COWLINGTON.  THESE DANGEROUS STORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...MULDROW...
  ROLAND...MOFFETT...FORT SMITH...HACKETT...GREENWOOD...BARLING...
  LAVACA...MIDLAND...BURNVILLE...EXCELSIOR...BONANZA...JENNY LIND...
  BLOOMER...VAN BUREN...ALMA...CEDARVILLE...DYER...FIGURE FIVE AND
  RUDY.

IF YOU ARE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM...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

LAT...LON 3540 9473 3528 9445 3503 9447 3525 9400
          3567 9423

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 2:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek, Osage, Pawnee98 min
May 16, 3:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSATulsa34 min
May 16, 3:36 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMcIntosh, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Pittsburg69 min
May 16, 3:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek, Nowata, Osage, Rogers, Tulsa, Washington68 min
May 16, 4:20 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMuskogee, Wagoner55 min
May 16, 4:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACraig, Delaware, Mayes, Ottawa77 min
May 16, 4:44 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAAdair, Cherokee, Haskell, LeFlore, McIntosh, Muskogee and 1 more91 min
May 16, 5:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAWagoner30 min
May 16, 5:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAChoctaw, Latimer, Pittsburg, Pushmataha56 min
May 16, 5:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSADelaware32 min
May 16, 6:13 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAChoctaw, Haskell, Latimer, LeFlore, McIntosh, Muskogee and 2 more62 min
May 16, 7:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAChoctaw, Pushmataha44 min
May 16, 9:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALeFlore, Pushmataha73 min
May 16, 1:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAOkfuskee59 min
May 16, 1:05 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAOkfuskee55 min
May 16, 1:26 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAOkmulgee64 min
May 16, 1:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAPittsburg55 min
May 16, 1:51 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAMcIntosh, Muskogee54 min
May 16, 1:54 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAPittsburg66 min
May 16, 2:10 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAMcIntosh65 min
May 16, 2:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALatimer, Pushmataha59 min
May 16, 2:26 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAOkmulgee34 min
May 16, 2:29 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAHaskell, Muskogee61 min
May 16, 2:35 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAMuskogee55 min
May 16, 2:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAWagoner52 min
May 16, 2:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAMuskogee48 min
May 16, 3:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSALatimer, LeFlore, Pushmataha73 min
May 16, 3:18 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAMuskogee42 min
May 16, 3:21 PM CDTTornado WarningTSALatimer39 min
May 16, 3:22 PM CDTTornado WarningTSACherokee68 min
May 16, 3:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAHaskell, Sequoyah64 min
May 16, 3:34 PM CDTTornado WarningTSALeFlore56 min
May 16, 3:58 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAAdair62 min
May 16, 4:31 PM CDTTornado WarningTSALeFlore59 min
May 16, 4:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACreek46 min
May 16, 5:41 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSATulsa4 hr
May 16, 6:09 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSAWashington4 hr
May 16, 6:11 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSACreek4 hr
May 16, 5:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSABenton, Crawford, Sebastian, Washington62 min
May 16, 5:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACarroll, Franklin, Madison79 min
May 16, 6:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACrawford, Sebastian75 min
May 16, 6:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSACarroll, Franklin, Madison23 min
May 16, 1:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAFranklin, Madison54 min
May 16, 4:27 PM CDTTornado WarningTSAWashington63 min
May 16, 4:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSAFranklin55 min
May 16, 4:58 PM CDTTornado WarningTSACrawford47 min
May 16, 5:34 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTSAMadison4 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Arkansas, 2003Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 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.