Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 185, NWS Birmingham, AL

November 18, 2003Sumter County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Nov 18, 2003, 10:42 AM CST for Sumter County, Alabama. It was in force for 63 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: Nov 18, 2003, 10:42 AM CST (16:42 UTC)
Expired: Nov 18, 2003, 11:45 AM CST
In force: 63 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Sumter 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
Nov 18, 6:55 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 151 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: 211 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 701 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 295 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 385 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KBMX 181642
TORBHM
ALC119-181745-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1042 AM CST TUE NOV 18 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1145 AM CST

* AT 1042 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 23 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CUBA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...BELLAMY...CUBA...
EPES...LIVINGSTON AND YORK.

RAIN MAY MAKE THIS TORNADO INVISIBLE. TAKE COVER NOW IF YOU WAIT
UNTIL YOU SEE OR HEAR IT COMING...IT MAY BE TOO LATE TO GET TO A SAFE
PLACE.

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

LAT...LON 3224 8879 3211 8865 3250 8798 3282 8818

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 18, 10:06 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Sumter	54 min
Nov 18, 10:18 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pickens	57 min
Nov 18, 10:48 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lamar	42 min
Nov 18, 10:59 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene	46 min
Nov 18, 11:13 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pickens	32 min
Nov 18, 11:23 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Fayette	52 min
Nov 18, 11:53 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	52 min
Nov 18, 11:57 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Dallas	48 min
Nov 18, 11:58 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Fayette, Walker	47 min
Nov 18, 12:06 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marengo	39 min
Nov 18, 12:20 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jefferson	40 min
Nov 18, 12:24 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Chilton	51 min
Nov 18, 12:43 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	47 min
Nov 18, 12:55 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jefferson	35 min
Nov 18, 1:03 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Blount, St. Clair, Shelby	42 min
Nov 18, 1:11 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Chilton	34 min
Nov 18, 1:18 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Perry	27 min
Nov 18, 3:13 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga, Chilton	32 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.