Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 19, 2003Calhoun County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 19, 2003, 3:32 PM CST for Calhoun County, Alabama. It was in force for 43 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, 3:32 PM CST (21:32 UTC)
Expired: Mar 19, 2003, 4:15 PM CST
In force: 43 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Calhoun County, AL

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 116 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:33 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.

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

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 121 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: 21 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -267 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 479 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 417 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 730 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

904 
WFUS54 KBMX 192132
TORBHM
ALC015-192215-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 415 PM CST

* AT 328 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER BYNUM...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...ANNISTON...BLUE
MOUNTAIN...BYNUM...FORT MCCLELLAN...HOBSON CITY...JACKSONVILLE...
PIEDMONT...SAKS...WEAVER AND WEST END-COBB TOWN.

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 3396 8564 3390 8558 3388 8563 3385 8563
          3385 8559 3381 8559 3378 8564 3370 8564
          3360 8582 3360 8597 3368 8605

$$

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, 3:17 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Tallapoosa	28 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.