Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 168, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 16, 2003Walker County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 16, 2003, 2:54 PM CDT for Walker County, Alabama. It was in force for 51 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 16, 2003, 2:54 PM CDT (19:54 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 2003, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Walker County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:57 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 16, 1:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 78 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 2003-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 911 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 2003-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 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
911 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
639 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

257 
WFUS54 KBMX 161954
TORBHM
ALC127-162045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
254 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WALKER COUNTY IN ALABAMA

* UNTIL 345 PM CDT

* AT 252 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER OAKMAN...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...CORDOVA...DORA...
GOODSPRINGS...JASPER...OAKMAN...PARRISH...SIPSEY AND SUMITON.

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 3388 8728 3370 8741 3357 8722 3382 8697

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 1:15 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarion30 min
May 16, 1:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker, Winston55 min
May 16, 1:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion30 min
May 16, 2:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion60 min
May 16, 2:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker59 min
May 16, 2:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXEtowah21 min
May 16, 3:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette58 min
May 16, 3:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker59 min
May 16, 3:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson65 min
May 16, 4:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair54 min
May 16, 4:59 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson4 hr
May 16, 5:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson30 min
May 16, 5:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega51 min
May 16, 5:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby37 min
May 16, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa41 min
May 16, 5:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega9 min
May 16, 5:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby33 min
May 16, 5:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega46 min
May 16, 6:02 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXTalladega3 hr
May 16, 6:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay25 min
May 16, 6:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa31 min
May 16, 6:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa58 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.