Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2003

F0 tornado, Overbrook, Kansas, May 8, 2003

This F0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Osage County on May 8, 2003, touching down at 7:07 PM CDT and reaching 60 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
F0
Date
May 8, 2003
Touchdown
7:07 PM CDT (00:07 UTC)
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
60 yards (55 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Osage County
Touchdown point
38.770, -95.520
Lift-off point
38.770, -95.520
Record number
1011

What the Weather Service recorded

A tornado touched down over open country for a brief time near overbrook.

Another tornado touched down briefly over open country near Overbrook.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

38 minutes of warning. NWS TOP issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:29 UTC, 38 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:15 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:53 UTC23:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
23:29 UTC00:15 UTCTornado WarningTOP

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a High Risk, with a 0.25 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 20:14 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Topeka, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at May 8, 2:28 PM CDT, 4 hours 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 8, 2:28 PM CDT, 4 hours 39 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KANSAS
228 PM CDT THU MAY 8 2003

FORECAST CHALLENGES ARE PRECIPITATION CHANCES THROUGH THE WEEKEND
THEN AGAIN IN THE LATE PERIODS.

ENERGETIC SCENARIO PAINTED BY THE 12Z UPPER AIR MAPS TODAY. 130KT
JET CORE WAS ACROSS THE ARIZONA/NEW MEXICO BORDER HEADING NORTHEAST.
STRONG SHORTWAVE AND BAROCLINIC ZONE WAS OVER THIS SAME REGION AT
500MB WITH 70KT JET CORE ON IT SOUTHERN END. WARM AIR TONGUE HAD
POKED INTO CENTRAL KANSAS AT 700MB WHILE 850MB MAP HAD WARM FRONT
JUST NORTH OF THE KANSAS BORDER WITH 16C DEWPOINTS INTO CENTRAL
KANSAS. SURFACE WARM FRONT PUSHING NORTH THROUGH THE CWA PER
OBS...VISIBLE SATELLITE LOOP...AND RADAR IMAGERY. MUCH ADVERTISED
SEVERE WEATHER THREAT IS BEGINNING TO BE REALIZED WITH MOST OF
KANSAS IN A TORNADO WATCH AND CELLS BEGINNING TO FIRE AS OF THIS
WRITING. PLEASE SEE OTHER PRODUCTS FROM THIS AND SURROUNDING WFOS
AND SPC CONCERNING CONVECTIVE DETAILS FOR THIS AFTERNOON.

COVERAGE AND LONGEVITY OF STORMS TO BE THE FIRST CHALLENGE TODAY.
DRY AIR PUNCHING ACROSS WESTERN KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON BUT MAY LINGER
INTO THE LATE EVENING HOURS HERE PER LATEST RUC. WILL KEEP SEVERE
STORM MENTION THROUGH MIDNIGHT FOR ALL ZONES.

STRONG UPPER JET TO REMAIN OVER THE REGION THROUGH THE END OF THE
WEEK. FRONTAL BOUNDARY FROM TODAYS SYSTEM MAY NOT MOVE FAR OFF WITH
A SLIGHT THREAT FOR REDEVELOPMENT IN THE FAR SOUTHEAST COUNTIES IN
THE AFTERNOON. MORE WIDESPREAD COVERAGE IS EXPECTED FRIDAY NIGHT AS
NEXT WAVE MOVES OUT OF THE WESTERN STATES AND WARM AIR ADVECTION
INCREASES OVER THE BOUNDARY. UPPER WAVE AND BAROCLINIC ZONE MOVE
THROUGH SATURDAY INTO SATURDAY EVENING. MOISTURE LOOKS FAIRLY
SHALLOW BUT WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS GOING.

UPPER RIDGING TO TAKE HOLD FROM SUNDAY INTO TUESDAY UNTIL THE NEXT
WESTERN TROF HEADS INLAND WITH MEDIUM RANGE MODELS FAIRLY SIMILAR IN
THIS IDEA. NEXT CHANCE FOR RAIN STILL APPEARS TO BE FOR TUESDAY
NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY WITH ANOTHER WARM AIR ADVECTION TYPE SCENARIO
AND THE WAVE MOVING THROUGH THURSDAY.

.TOP...NONE.

65
Hazardous weather outlook, May 8, 4:42 PM CDT, 2 hours 25 minutes before
KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-091000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
442 PM CDT THU MAY 8 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL...NORTHEAST AND
EAST CENTRAL KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT

A SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK WITH POSSIBLE LARGE TORNADOES
IS STILL LIKELY THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD OVER THE AREA
DURING THE EVENING HOURS...CONTINUING DURING THE NIGHT.  LARGE LONG
LIVED TORNADOES...IN SOME PLACES HARD TO OBSERVE...ARE POSSIBLE
ALONG WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE SEVERE STORMS WILL
FORM RAPIDLY AND MOVE EAST OR NORTHEAST AT 30 TO 40 MPH.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION. EMERGENCY MANAGERS...LAW
ENFORCEMENT... MEDIA AND THE PUBLIC SHOULD MONITOR LOCAL WEATHER
CONDITIONS VERY CLOSELY...AND BE READY FOR QUICK ACTION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

MORE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY
ACROSS ALL OF THE AREA.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS WILL BE NEEDED THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT...IN SOME COUNTIES
SPOTTERS SHOULD BE ALREDY DEPLOYED AND IN PLACE.

&&

MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE:
   HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/TOP  (ALL LOWER CASE)

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 8, 6:09 PM CDT, 58 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
609 PM CDT THU MAY 08 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0550 PM    1 W HANOVER               KS    1 INCH HAIL
05/08/03   WASHINGTON
Local storm report, May 8, 6:13 PM CDT, 54 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
613 PM CDT THU MAY 08 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0612 PM    1 W PAXICO                KS    65 MPH TSTM GUST
05/08/03   WABAUNSEE
Local storm report, May 8, 6:27 PM CDT, 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
627 PM CDT THU MAY 08 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0605 PM    4 SE WAMEGO               KS    TORNADO
05/08/03   POTTAWATOMIE                    PUBLIC REPORTED
Local storm report, May 8, 6:36 PM CDT, 31 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
636 PM CDT THU MAY 08 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0636 PM    6 S OSAGE CITY            KS    TORNADO
05/08/03   OSAGE                           SPOTTER REPORTED
Local storm report, May 8, 6:52 PM CDT, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
652 PM CDT THU MAY 08 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0645 PM    1 W LYNDON                KS    TORNADO
05/08/03   OSAGE                           LARGE TORNADO REPORTED
                                           BY SPOTTERS
Local storm report, May 8, 7:06 PM CDT, 1 minute before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
706 PM CDT THU MAY 08 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0705 PM    POMONA RES                KS    TORNADO
05/08/03   OSAGE                           HIGHWAY PATROL SPOTTED
                                           NEAR POMONA LAKE

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Topeka, KS (KTOP), 00:00Z

0.1 hours before the tornado, 28 km from the path. May 9, 2003.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2003-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1679 joules per kilogram, CIN -6, lifted condensation level 807 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2003-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 247 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 62 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 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. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1679 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1908 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
807 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
247 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
271 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.1
Supercell composite
9.5
0-3 km lapse rate
6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Topeka, KS (KTOP), 12:00Z

11.9 hours after it, 28 km from the path. May 9, 2003.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2003-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -86656, lifted condensation level 1473 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2003-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -145 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 70 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-86656 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1473 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
70 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-145 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
2.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:04 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2003 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 8, 2003

46 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 81:08 AM CDTF1Stephens, OK3.0200$40,000
May 81:17 AM CDTF0Stephens, OK0.530
May 81:32 AM CDTF2Jefferson, OK6.0150$70,000
May 82:23 AM CDTF2Love, OK4.0440$150,000
May 82:54 AM CDTF2Marshall, OK7.0300$100,000
May 86:04 AM CDTF1LeFlore, OK4.0100$30,000
May 811:40 AM CDTF0Pemiscot, MO1.075$10,000
May 811:10 AM MDTF0Adams, CO0.150
May 811:17 AM MDTF0Adams, CO0.150
May 812:05 PM MDTF0Weld, CO0.150
May 812:13 PM MDTF0Adams, CO0.150
May 81:20 PM CDTF1Gibson, TN4.0100$30,000
May 81:05 PM MDTF1Morgan, CO0.150
May 83:15 PM EDTF0Essex, VA0.250
May 83:00 PM CDTF0Macoupin, IL0.250
May 83:32 PM CDTF0Cloud, KS0.160
May 85:00 PM CDTF0McClain, OK0.230
May 85:04 PM CDTF0Cleveland, OK2.3100$500,000
May 85:10 PM CDTF4Moore tornado, OK17.3700134$370 million
May 85:15 PM CDTF0Clay, IL0.110
May 85:20 PM CDTF1Gage, NE7.0150
May 86:05 PM CDTF0Pottawatomie, KS0.160
May 86:08 PM CDTF0Noble, OK0.850$3,000
May 86:13 PM CDTF1Butler, KS2.0100$60,000
May 86:25 PM CDTF0Greenwood, KS2.075$20,000
May 86:31 PM CDTF1Osage, KS6.0120$250,000
May 86:32 PM CDTF1Greenwood, KS3.0100$70,000
May 86:40 PM CDTF3Osage, KS25.0800$1.5 million
May 86:46 PM CDTF3Osage, OK45.0880$250,000
May 86:56 PM CDTF3Woodson, KS23.03503$2.5 million
May 87:10 PM CDTF0Coffey, KS0.180
May 87:10 PM CDTF0Osage, KS0.160
May 87:17 PM CDTF0Douglas, KS0.180
May 87:21 PM CDTF1Allen, KS3.0125$150,000
May 87:24 PM CDTF0Jefferson, KS0.180
May 87:26 PM CDTF1Douglas, KS0.250
May 87:38 PM CDTF2Douglas, KS0.72506$6.4 million
May 87:38 PM CDTF2Anderson, KS15.08003$1.1 million
May 87:45 PM ESTF1Perry, IN3.0100$120,000
May 87:52 PM CDTF2Linn, KS7.0300$10,000
May 88:00 PM CDTF0Breckinridge, KY1.050
May 88:13 PM CDTF0Montgomery, KS2.075
May 88:28 PM CDTF0Montgomery, KS0.550
May 88:52 PM CDTF0Labette, KS0.555
May 89:21 PM CDTF0Henry, MO3.050
May 810:00 PM CDTF0Johnson, MO0.550

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.