Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Birmingham, AL

February 15, 2003Marengo County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 15, 2003, 7:43 PM CST for Marengo County, Alabama. It was in force for 62 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
Feb 15, 2003, 7:43 PM CST (01:43 UTC)
Expired
Feb 15, 2003, 8:45 PM CST
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Marengo County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 143 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:42 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
Feb 15, 5:40 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 143 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, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2003-02-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 752 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2003-02-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
752 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1064 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

358 
WUUS54 KBMX 160143
SVRBHM
ALC091-160245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
743 PM CST SAT FEB 15 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  MARENGO COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA

* UNTIL 845 PM CST

* AT 737 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 17 MILES WEST OF SWEET WATER...MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 35 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...DAYTON...
LINDEN...MYRTLEWOOD...PROVIDENCE AND THOMASTON.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT. REMEMBER...TORNADOES CAN DEVELOP
SUDDENLY FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

STRONG DAMAGING WIND WILL KNOCK DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES...AND
DAMAGE BUILDINGS AND HOMES. TAKE COVER NOW. FIND SUBSTANTIAL
SHELTER...AVOID WINDOWS...VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES.

CALL 1-800-856-0758 TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER.

LAT...LON 3206 8812 3210 8804 3216 8801 3225 8801
          3249 8753 3231 8753 3231 8747 3228 8747
          3228 8752 3224 8753 3200 8803

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 15, 7:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Tuscaloosa54 min
Feb 15, 8:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale49 min
Feb 15, 8:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale, Marengo, Perry55 min
Feb 15, 9:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas41 min
Feb 15, 9:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton, Dallas, Perry66 min
Feb 15, 10:16 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb44 min
Feb 15, 10:36 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby54 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 2003Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.