Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 128, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 6, 2003Etowah County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 6, 2003, 11:38 AM CDT for Etowah County, Alabama. It was in force for 37 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 6, 2003, 11:38 AM CDT (16:38 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 2003, 12:15 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Etowah County, AL

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:40 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 6, 7:40 AM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 134 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 2003-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1558 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 2003-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 287 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
1558 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
599 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
68 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
287 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
375 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.3
Supercell composite
12.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KBMX 061638
TORBHM
ALC055-061715-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1138 AM CDT TUE MAY 6 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN ETOWAH COUNTY IN NORTHEAST ALABAMA

* UNTIL 1215 PM CDT

* AT 1135 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF SARDIS CITY...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...KEENER AND SARDIS
CITY.

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.

IF YOU ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...TAKE COVER IN AN INTERIOR
ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR...OR A BASEMENT. ABANDON MOBILE HOMES AND
VEHICLES FOR MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.

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

LAT...LON 3420 8585 3414 8585 3414 8580 3410 8580
          3414 8626 3419 8615

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 7:09 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXWalker36 min
May 5, 7:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, St. Clair36 min
May 5, 7:24 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson51 min
May 5, 7:25 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson50 min
May 5, 8:03 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun27 min
May 5, 8:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion39 min
May 5, 8:06 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCleburne24 min
May 5, 8:16 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson29 min
May 5, 8:25 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCleburne35 min
May 5, 8:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair63 min
May 5, 8:53 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson4 hr
May 5, 10:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar27 min
May 5, 10:39 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXBlount, Calhoun, St. Clair4 hr
May 5, 11:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion58 min
May 6, 12:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion, Winston65 min
May 6, 1:40 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXMarion3 hr
May 6, 9:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCherokee66 min
May 6, 11:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount30 min
May 6, 11:11 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXCherokee3 hr
May 6, 11:12 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXBlount18 min
May 6, 12:05 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCherokee40 min
May 6, 1:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega48 min
May 6, 3:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph23 min
May 6, 5:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens, Tuscaloosa61 min
May 6, 6:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa34 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.