Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 19, 2003Tallapoosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 19, 2003, 3:17 PM CST for Tallapoosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 28 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, 3:17 PM CST (21:17 UTC)
Expired: Mar 19, 2003, 3:45 PM CST
In force: 28 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Tallapoosa County, AL

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Mar 19, 1:30 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 87 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

942 
WFUS54 KBMX 192117
TORBHM
ALC123-192145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
317 PM CST WED MAR 19 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  TALLAPOOSA COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 345 PM CST

* AT 311 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER ALEXANDER CITY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...ALEXANDER CITY...
GOLDVILLE AND NEW SITE.

SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM...SUCH AS A CLOSET...BATHROOM...
BASEMENT...OR HALLWAY. CLOSE ALL DOORS. USE BLANKETS...QUILTS...OR
PILLOWS TO COVER YOURSELF.

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

LAT...LON 3295 8600 3287 8585 3311 8561 3311 8592

$$

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, 1:58 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	47 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, 3:32 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, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes 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.