Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 137, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 7, 2003Jefferson County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 7, 2003, 1:45 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Alabama. It was in force for 15 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 7, 2003, 1:45 PM CDT (18:45 UTC)
Expired
May 7, 2003, 2:00 PM CDT
In force
15 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Jefferson County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:47 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 7, 10:35 AM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 54 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 2003-05-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1457 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 2003-05-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 178 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
1457 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
538 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
178 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
236 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
6.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KBMX 071845
TORBHM
ALC073-071900-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
144 PM CDT WED MAY 7 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERNEASTERN JEFFERSON COUNTY IN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 200 PM CDT

* AT 142 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER TRUSSVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...LEEDS AND
TRUSSVILLE.

THIS EXTENDS THE PREVIOUS TORNADO WARNING.

OVER 800 LIGHTNING STRIKES PER MINUTE IS OCCURING WITH THE STORM.  
TAKE COVER NOW

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 3376 8656 3363 8656 3354 8653 3352 8659
          3361 8670

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 6, 7:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Jefferson37 min
May 6, 7:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby58 min
May 6, 7:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson32 min
May 6, 7:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair, Talladega46 min
May 6, 7:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Cleburne64 min
May 6, 8:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby32 min
May 6, 8:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega31 min
May 7, 10:19 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXLamar56 min
May 7, 11:07 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXLamar28 min
May 7, 11:17 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXFayette58 min
May 7, 11:53 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXWalker67 min
May 7, 12:37 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson53 min
May 7, 1:19 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson26 min
May 7, 1:25 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson3 hr
May 7, 1:27 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSt. Clair63 min
May 7, 1:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount44 min
May 7, 2:00 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXSt. Clair3 hr
May 7, 2:11 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTalladega64 min
May 7, 2:13 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXShelby62 min
May 7, 2:18 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXHale42 min
May 7, 2:22 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun58 min
May 7, 2:29 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSt. Clair31 min
May 7, 2:46 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCleburne74 min
May 7, 2:52 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXClay53 min
May 7, 3:05 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXCalhoun, Talladega4 hr
May 7, 3:05 PM CDTTornado Warning EmergencyBMXJefferson, St. Clair40 min
May 7, 3:11 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTalladega34 min
May 7, 3:13 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXCleburne4 hr
May 7, 3:13 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXRandolph62 min
May 7, 3:26 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXClay4 hr
May 7, 3:35 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXPerry25 min
May 7, 3:36 PM CDTTornado Warning EmergencyBMXCalhoun, Talladega54 min
May 7, 3:37 PM CDTTornado Warning EmergencyBMXClay68 min
May 7, 3:45 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson60 min
May 7, 3:50 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXRandolph4 hr
May 7, 3:58 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSt. Clair32 min
May 7, 4:04 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson4 hr
May 7, 4:09 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXRandolph51 min
May 7, 4:09 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter66 min
May 7, 4:23 PM CDTTornado Warning EmergencyBMXClay, Cleburne, Randolph, Talladega52 min
May 7, 4:35 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXSt. Clair4 hr
May 7, 4:38 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson4 hr
May 7, 4:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair56 min
May 7, 4:50 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarengo55 min
May 7, 4:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby36 min
May 7, 5:08 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXRandolph52 min
May 7, 5:32 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXClay43 min
May 7, 5:46 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTalladega44 min
May 7, 5:51 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarengo54 min
May 7, 5:55 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXRandolph50 min
May 7, 5:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Tuscaloosa33 min
May 7, 6:12 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXClay, Coosa, Tallapoosa48 min
May 7, 6:28 PM CDTTornado Warning EmergencyBMXChambers47 min
May 7, 6:41 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXRandolph34 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.