Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003
Tornado Warning 186, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Nov 18, 2003, 11:53 AM CST for Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 52 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, 11:53 AM CST (17:53 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 18, 2003, 12:45 PM CST
- In force
- 52 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), 69 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:52 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 18, 6:55 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
| Nov 18, 11:25 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 68 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1123 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 319 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 389 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS54 KBMX 181753 TORBHM ALC125-181845- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1153 AM CST TUE NOV 18 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... TUSCALOOSA COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA * UNTIL 1245 PM CST * AT 1153 AM CST...THE PUBLIC REPORTED A LINE OF TORNADO PRODUCING STORMS FROM 9 MILES NORTH OF SAMANTHA TO 12 MILES SOUTH OF HOLT... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH. THE TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND IN THE CITY OF TUSCALOOSA. * LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THESE TORNADO PRODUCING STORMS INCLUDE...BROOKWOOD...HOLT...KELLERMAN...SAMANTHA AND TUSCALOOSA. 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 3359 8763 3303 8751 3323 8715 3360 8736 $$
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, 10:42 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Sumter | 63 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, 11:57 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, 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.