Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 5, 2003Sumter County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 5, 2003, 5:57 PM CST for Sumter County, Alabama. It was in force for 48 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
Mar 5, 2003, 5:57 PM CST (23:57 UTC)
Expired
Mar 5, 2003, 6:45 PM CST
In force
48 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 5, 4:45 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 145 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 2003-03-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2003-03-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 151 square meters per square second.1939587897117136156Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
445 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
87 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
197 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

307 
WFUS54 KBMX 052357
TORBHM
ALC119-060045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
557 PM CST WED MAR 5 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 645 PM CST

* AT 555 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
TORNADO 22 MILES WEST OF EMELLE...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...EMELLE...EPES AND
GAINESVILLE.

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 3262 8839 3277 8837 3283 8813 3269 8811
          3269 8805 3262 8810

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 5, 5:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPickens50 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.