Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 27, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 6, 2003Greene County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 6, 2003, 4:58 PM CDT for Greene County, Alabama. It was in force for 22 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
Apr 6, 2003, 4:58 PM CDT (21:58 UTC)
Expired
Apr 6, 2003, 5:20 PM CDT
In force
22 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Greene County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 117 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:00 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
Apr 6, 1:35 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 117 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 2003-04-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 43 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 2003-04-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 220 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
43 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-292 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
938 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
220 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
283 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KBMX 062158
TORBHM
ALC063-062220-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
458 PM CDT SUN APR 6 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 520 PM CDT

* AT 455 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER FORKLAND...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...FORKLAND.

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 3274 8782 3259 8775 3255 8780 3254 8787
          3260 8789 3260 8783 3267 8798

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 6, 3:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Pickens, Sumter67 min
Apr 6, 3:36 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter39 min
Apr 6, 4:13 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXGreene, Sumter47 min
Apr 6, 4:52 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXHale53 min
Apr 6, 4:54 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter66 min
Apr 6, 6:06 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXHale9 min
Apr 6, 6:11 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa49 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.