Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 29, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 6, 2003Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 6, 2003, 6:11 PM CDT for Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 49 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, 6:11 PM CDT (23:11 UTC)
Expired
Apr 6, 2003, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
49 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), 63 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:12 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, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 62 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 062311
TORBHM
ALC125-070000-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT

* AT 606 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 11 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DUNCANVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20
  MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...DUNCANVILLE... 
AND THE REMAINDER OF SOUTHEASTERN TUSCALOOSA COUNTY.

SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM...SUCH AS A CLOSET...BATHROOM...
BASEMENT...OR HALLWAY. CLOSE ALL DOORS. USE BLANKETS...QUILTS...OR
PILLOWS TO COVER YOURSELF.

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

LAT...LON 3302 8757 3302 8751 3302 8732 3314 8728
          3323 8737

$$

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, 4:58 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXGreene22 min
Apr 6, 6:06 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXHale9 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.