Alert archive / Washington / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Spokane, WA

May 21, 2004Spokane County, Washington

NWS Spokane, WA issued this tornado warning at May 21, 2004, 4:22 PM PDT for Spokane County, Washington. It was in force for 38 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 21, 2004, 4:22 PM PDT (23:22 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 2004, 5:00 PM PDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Spokane, WA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Spokane County, WA

The radar

The Spokane radar (KOTX), 14 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:26 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 nearest sounding before it

Spokane, WA (KOTX), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 80 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, Spokane, WA at 12:00Z on 2004-05-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 22 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, Spokane, WA at 12:00Z on 2004-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 14 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
22 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
633 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

709 
WFUS56 KOTX 212322
TOROTX
WAC063-220000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA
421 PM PDT FRI MAY 21 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SPOKANE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL SPOKANE COUNTY IN EASTERN WASHINGTON
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF SPOKANE

* UNTIL 500 PM PDT

* AT 416 PM PDT...TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR   
  US 2 AND GRAHAM ROAD AT 410 PM...AND ALSO NEAR US 2 AND HAYFORD
  ROAD AT 416 PM. AIRWAY HEIGHTS...OR ABOUT 8 MILES WEST OF
  SPOKANE...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  SPOKANE BY 440 PM PDT
  7 MILES SOUTH OF DISHMAN BY 500 PM PDT

IN ADDITION TO THE TORNADO...THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DIME 
SIZE HAIL AND DESTRUCTIVE STRAIGHT LINE WINDS.

LAT...LON 4775 11764 4758 11773 4741 11722 4763 11708

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Spokane, WA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 5:25 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOTXGrant50 min
May 21, 4:10 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOTXSpokane50 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Washington, 2004Every tornado warning in 2004Tornadoes in 2004

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.