Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003
Tornado Warning 12, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 19, 2003, 1:58 PM CST for Cherokee 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
- Mar 19, 2003, 1:58 PM CST (19:58 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 19, 2003, 2:45 PM CST
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Cherokee County, AL
The radar
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 89 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:58 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 nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 246 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -7 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 573 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 69 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 530 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 779 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.0
- Supercell composite
- 3.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
335
WFUS54 KBMX 191958
TORBHM
ALC019-192045-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
158 PM CST WED MAR 19 2003
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
NORTHERN CHEROKEE COUNTY IN NORTHEAST ALABAMA
* UNTIL 245 PM CST
* AT 153 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
TORNADO 8 MILES WEST OF LEESBURG...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...GAYLESVILLE...
LEESBURG AND SAND ROCK.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH...SEEK SHELTER NOW.
STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
CALL 1-800-856-0758 TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER.
LAT...LON 3425 8584 3414 8584 3414 8578 3407 8577
3415 8568
$$The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18, 10:55 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Shelby | 50 min |
| Mar 18, 11:25 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 65 min |
| Mar 19, 9:06 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Blount | 24 min |
| Mar 19, 11:24 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 51 min |
| Mar 19, 12:42 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Etowah | 48 min |
| Mar 19, 1:26 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Etowah | 49 min |
| Mar 19, 2:29 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | St. Clair, Talladega | 31 min |
| Mar 19, 2:38 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 22 min |
| Mar 19, 2:57 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Talladega | 48 min |
| Mar 19, 3:01 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 44 min |
| Mar 19, 3:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 51 min |
| Mar 19, 3:17 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 28 min |
| Mar 19, 3:32 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Calhoun | 43 min |
| Mar 19, 3:38 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 37 min |
| Mar 19, 3:40 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 35 min |
| Mar 19, 3:46 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Talladega | 29 min |
| Mar 19, 3:49 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cleburne | 41 min |
| Mar 19, 3:58 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Barbour | 47 min |
| Mar 19, 3:58 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chambers | 62 min |
| Mar 19, 4:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Randolph | 51 min |
| Mar 19, 4:26 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Russell | 49 min |
| Mar 19, 4:30 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cleburne | 30 min |
| Mar 19, 4:40 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Randolph | 50 min |
| Mar 19, 4:55 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Russell | 35 min |
| Mar 19, 4:58 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lee | 32 min |
| Mar 19, 5:26 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 49 min |
| Mar 19, 5:37 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chambers | 38 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.