Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 118, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 5, 2003Blount County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 5, 2003, 1:22 PM CDT for Blount County, Alabama. It was in force for 23 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 5, 2003, 1:22 PM CDT (18:22 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 2003, 1:45 PM CDT
In force
23 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Blount County, AL

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:23 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 5, 8:50 AM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 119 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 2003-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1048 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 2003-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 299 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1048 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-79 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
616 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
299 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
345 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.7
Supercell composite
5.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

588 
WFUS54 KBMX 051822
TORBHM
ALC009-051845-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
122 PM CDT MON MAY 5 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BLOUNT COUNTY IN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 145 PM CDT

* AT 117 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF SUMMIT...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...SUMMIT.

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 3426 8645 3416 8636 3417 8658

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 11:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar38 min
May 5, 12:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens37 min
May 5, 6:36 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXFayette, Walker39 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.