Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 328

May 29, 200431 counties in Kansas; 28 counties in Oklahoma

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 29, 2004, 9:45 PM CDT for 31 counties in Kansas; 28 counties in Oklahoma. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 29, 2004, 9:45 PM CDT (02:45 UTC)
Expired
May 30, 2004, 4:00 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 59 counties

Allen County, KS, Anderson County, KS, Barber County, KS, Bourbon County, KS, Butler County, KS, Chase County, KS, Chautauqua County, KS, Cherokee County, KS, Coffey County, KS, Cowley County, KS, Crawford County, KS, Elk County, KS, Greenwood County, KS, Harper County, KS, Harvey County, KS, Kingman County, KS, Labette County, KS, Linn County, KS, Lyon County, KS, Marion County, KS, McPherson County, KS, Montgomery County, KS, Neosho County, KS, Pratt County, KS, Reno County, KS, Rice County, KS, Sedgwick County, KS, Stafford County, KS, Sumner County, KS, Wilson County, KS, Woodson County, KS, Alfalfa County, OK, Blaine County, OK, Canadian County, OK, Craig County, OK, Creek County, OK, Custer County, OK, Dewey County, OK, Garfield County, OK, Grant County, OK, Kay County, OK, Kingfisher County, OK, Lincoln County, OK, Logan County, OK, Major County, OK, Mayes County, OK, Muskogee County, OK, Noble County, OK, Nowata County, OK, Oklahoma County, OK, Okmulgee County, OK, Osage County, OK, Pawnee County, OK, Payne County, OK, Rogers County, OK, Tulsa County, OK, Wagoner County, OK, Washington County, OK, Woods County, OK

The radar

The Vance AFB radar (KVNX), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:46 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.

Warnings issued inside it

14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 29, 9:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTButler56 min
May 29, 9:57 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNLincoln, Logan48 min
May 29, 10:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNOklahoma30 min
May 29, 10:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTCowley, Sumner52 min
May 29, 10:42 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNLincoln48 min
May 29, 10:42 PM CDTTornado WarningTSACreek63 min
May 29, 10:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNPayne44 min
May 29, 11:30 PM CDTTornado WarningTSACreek60 min
May 30, 12:08 AM CDTTornado WarningTSACreek, Tulsa52 min
May 30, 12:52 AM CDTTornado WarningTSATulsa, Wagoner53 min
May 30, 12:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMcPherson62 min
May 30, 1:18 AM CDTTornado WarningTSAMayes, Rogers57 min
May 30, 1:44 AM CDTTornado WarningTSAWagoner46 min
May 30, 2:13 AM CDTTornado WarningTSAMayes32 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Lamont, OK (KLMN), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 9 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, Lamont, OK at 00:00Z on 2004-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3494 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, Lamont, OK at 00:00Z on 2004-05-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 195 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
3494 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-56 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
992 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
195 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
402 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
7.0
Supercell composite
22.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 300244
SEL8  
SPC WW 300245
KSZ000-OKZ000-300900-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 328
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
945 PM CDT SAT MAY 29 2004

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       CENTRAL AND SOUTHEASTERN KANSAS
       CENTRAL AND NORTHERN OKLAHOMA

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING FROM 945 PM UNTIL
400 AM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 115 STATUTE MILES EAST AND
WEST OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF EMPORIA KANSAS TO 65
MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF ENID OKLAHOMA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 322. WATCH NUMBER 322 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 945
PM CDT. CONTINUE...WW 321...WW 327...

DISCUSSION...ISOLATED TORNADIC THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE ACROSS
SOUTHERN KS AND CENTRAL OK.  ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DEVELOP
SWD ALONG COLD FRONT...POSSIBLY INTO NWRN OK AFTER MIDNIGHT. 
STRENGTHENING LLJ WILL MAINTAIN SUPERCELL AND TORNADIC THREAT.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27025.


...DARROW/EVANS

383,0941 352,0952 352,0993 383,0983

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 29, 8:27 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCButler, Chase, Chautauqua, Coffey, Cowley, Elk and 9 more63 min
May 29, 8:45 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtchison, Brown, Clay, Cloud, Dickinson, Doniphan and 19 more60 min
May 29, 9:35 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAtchison, Brown, Clay, Cloud, Dickinson, Doniphan and 26 more6 hr
May 29, 11:23 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Anderson, Atchison, Bourbon, Brown, Butler and 50 more67 min
May 30, 2:38 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Anderson, Atchison, Brown, Butler, Chase and 21 more97 min
May 30, 9:40 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCherokee3 hr
May 30, 10:50 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCBourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Linn8 hr
May 30, 12:15 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtoka, Bryan, Choctaw, McCurtain, Pushmataha90 min
May 30, 12:35 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBryan, Choctaw, McCurtain, Pushmataha6 hr
May 30, 12:53 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Cherokee, Haskell, Muskogee, Sequoyah2 hr
May 30, 2:44 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChoctaw, LeFlore, McCurtain, Pushmataha2 hr
May 30, 5:53 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChoctaw, LeFlore, McCurtain, Pushmataha97 min
May 30, 6:10 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCChoctaw, LeFlore, McCurtain, Pushmataha5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2004Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2004Every tornado watch 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.