Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 36, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 7, 2003Marengo County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 7, 2003, 3:15 AM CDT for Marengo County, Alabama. It was in force for 30 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 7, 2003, 3:15 AM CDT (08:15 UTC)
Expired
Apr 7, 2003, 3:45 AM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Marengo County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 131 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:14 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 7, 2:55 AM CDTTornado WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 131 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 00:00Z on 2003-04-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 677 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 00:00Z on 2003-04-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 133 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
677 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-71 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1007 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
133 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
175 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
2.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

687 
WFUS54 KBMX 070815
TORBHM
ALC091-070845-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
315 AM CDT MON APR 7 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MARENGO COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA

* UNTIL 345 AM CDT

* AT 315 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 10 MILES WEST OF JEFFERSON...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...DAYTON...    
  FAUNSDALE...JEFFERSON...LINDEN...PROVIDENCE AND THOMASTON.

TAKE COVER NOW TORNADOES AT NIGHT ARE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT
WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE OR HEAR THE TORNADO...IT MAY BE TOO LATE.

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

LAT...LON 3245 8799 3224 8798 3226 8753 3247 8752
$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 6, 7:01 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa29 min
Apr 6, 7:24 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson51 min
Apr 6, 11:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo44 min
Apr 7, 12:47 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXDallas58 min
Apr 7, 1:28 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXLowndes62 min
Apr 7, 2:26 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXLowndes, Montgomery64 min
Apr 7, 2:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter34 min
Apr 7, 3:05 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter25 min
Apr 7, 3:30 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMacon, Montgomery60 min
Apr 7, 3:42 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXSumter4 hr
Apr 7, 3:46 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarengo19 min
Apr 7, 3:51 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXBullock29 min
Apr 7, 4:02 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXDallas, Perry43 min
Apr 7, 4:24 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMacon51 min
Apr 7, 4:42 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter48 min
Apr 7, 4:54 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXLee36 min
Apr 7, 5:26 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXLee29 min
Apr 7, 5:32 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarengo, Sumter28 min
Apr 7, 5:43 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXGreene, Hale4 hr
Apr 7, 5:58 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMarengo47 min
Apr 7, 6:11 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXHale, Perry49 min
Apr 7, 6:24 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXChambers51 min
Apr 7, 6:35 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXDallas25 min
Apr 7, 6:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter49 min
Apr 7, 6:56 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXDallas49 min
Apr 7, 7:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo42 min
Apr 7, 7:34 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXAutauga, Lowndes41 min
Apr 7, 7:35 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXSumter3 hr
Apr 7, 7:50 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXMarengo3 hr
Apr 7, 7:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore, Macon, Montgomery36 min
Apr 7, 8:06 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXAutauga, Chambers, Chilton, Coosa, Dallas, Elmore and 6 more3 hr
Apr 7, 8:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas37 min
Apr 7, 8:14 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXAutauga, Lowndes46 min
Apr 7, 8:24 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMontgomery51 min
Apr 7, 8:59 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXLowndes46 min
Apr 7, 9:22 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMontgomery38 min
Apr 7, 9:24 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMacon51 min
Apr 7, 10:49 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXAutauga, Chambers, Elmore, Lee, Lowndes, Macon and 2 more3 hr
Apr 7, 2:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour, Pike56 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.