Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 109, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 2, 2003Dallas County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 2, 2003, 5:28 PM CDT for Dallas County, Alabama. It was in force for 47 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 2, 2003, 5:28 PM CDT (22:28 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 2003, 6:15 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Dallas County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:31 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 2, 3:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC4 hr
May 2, 5:05 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 104 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 12:00Z on 2003-05-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 134 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2003-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 42 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
134 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-350 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1399 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
248 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KBMX 022228
TORBHM
ALC047-022315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
527 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  DALLAS COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 615 PM CDT

* AT 527 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
TORNADO OVER ORRVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. VERY LARGE AHIL WILL 
ALSO ACCOMPANY THIS STORM. HAIL AND WIND DAMAGE HAS BEEN REPORTED 
WITH THIS STORM NEAR UNIONTOWN.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...MARION
JUNCTION...ORRVILLE...SELMA AND TYLER.

THIS STORM SHOWS STRONG ROTATION AND MAY PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY
TIME. DO NOT WAIT. GO TO A SAFE PLACE NOW PUT AS MANY WALLS BETWEEN
YOU AND THE OUTSIDE AS POSSIBLE.

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

LAT...LON 3228 8743 3211 8691 3223 8687 3246 8687
          3245 8738

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 7:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun35 min
May 1, 7:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega24 min
May 1, 8:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay43 min
May 1, 8:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega16 min
May 1, 8:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour28 min
May 1, 8:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa39 min
May 2, 2:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion45 min
May 2, 2:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount32 min
May 2, 2:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee, Etowah49 min
May 2, 2:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette39 min
May 2, 3:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount29 min
May 2, 3:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens42 min
May 2, 3:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion26 min
May 2, 3:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker47 min
May 2, 3:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo58 min
May 2, 3:17 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXPickens43 min
May 2, 3:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee, Etowah46 min
May 2, 3:32 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXGreene43 min
May 2, 3:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale39 min
May 2, 4:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa29 min
May 2, 4:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens51 min
May 2, 4:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Cleburne35 min
May 2, 4:12 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXGreene48 min
May 2, 4:13 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXGreene47 min
May 2, 4:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee30 min
May 2, 4:17 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXHale43 min
May 2, 4:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo36 min
May 2, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry60 min
May 2, 4:34 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarengo26 min
May 2, 4:44 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXPerry46 min
May 2, 4:52 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXDallas38 min
May 2, 4:55 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXHale35 min
May 2, 4:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne49 min
May 2, 4:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount, Walker46 min
May 2, 5:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston28 min
May 2, 5:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa51 min
May 2, 5:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair26 min
May 2, 5:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah41 min
May 2, 5:26 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXWalker24 min
May 2, 5:27 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXPerry48 min
May 2, 5:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson44 min
May 2, 5:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega26 min
May 2, 5:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb25 min
May 2, 5:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale40 min
May 2, 5:35 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXEtowah40 min
May 2, 5:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene36 min
May 2, 5:39 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson66 min
May 2, 5:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount33 min
May 2, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Cherokee60 min
May 2, 6:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair43 min
May 2, 6:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa56 min
May 2, 6:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne54 min
May 2, 6:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby23 min
May 2, 6:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas46 min
May 2, 6:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale, Talladega45 min
May 2, 6:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry30 min
May 2, 6:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette23 min
May 2, 6:25 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXShelby65 min
May 2, 6:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo59 min
May 2, 6:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLowndes58 min
May 2, 6:37 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun23 min
May 2, 6:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa66 min
May 2, 6:42 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson18 min
May 2, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay, Randolph62 min
May 2, 6:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers54 min
May 2, 6:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson23 min
May 2, 6:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne16 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 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.