Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 173, NWS Birmingham, AL

May 17, 2003Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at May 17, 2003, 6:30 PM CDT for Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 60 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 17, 2003, 6:30 PM CDT (23:30 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 2003, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Tuscaloosa County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:33 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 17, 2:25 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC8 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 76 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 2003-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2005 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 2003-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 124 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2005 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
457 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
124 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
175 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
6.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KBMX 172330
TORBHM
ALC125-180030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
630 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  TUSCALOOSA COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT

* AT 626 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NORTHPORT...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30
  MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...BROOKWOOD...
HOLT...NORTHPORT AND TUSCALOOSA.

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 3344 8784 3303 8782 3301 8747 3330 8714
          3355 8742

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 10:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar52 min
May 17, 10:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarion58 min
May 17, 12:45 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXLamar, Marion6 hr
May 17, 1:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMX41 min
May 17, 1:53 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa47 min
May 17, 2:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter33 min
May 17, 2:39 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa31 min
May 17, 2:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene39 min
May 17, 2:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, Walker32 min
May 17, 2:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson47 min
May 17, 3:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson42 min
May 17, 3:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa37 min
May 17, 3:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson39 min
May 17, 3:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa25 min
May 17, 4:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount24 min
May 17, 4:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson41 min
May 17, 4:56 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter64 min
May 17, 5:42 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXPickens63 min
May 17, 5:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene64 min
May 17, 5:59 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXPickens, Sumter4 hr
May 17, 6:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter59 min
May 17, 6:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair45 min
May 17, 6:39 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter36 min
May 17, 6:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa, Shelby, Talladega39 min
May 17, 6:58 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCoosa, Talladega32 min
May 17, 6:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo61 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.