Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 5, 2003Greene County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 5, 2003, 6:11 PM CST for Greene 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 counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Mar 5, 2003, 6:11 PM CST (00:11 UTC)
Expired: Mar 5, 2003, 7:00 PM CST
In force: 49 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Greene County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 116 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:11 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
Mar 5, 4:45 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 115 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 446 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 131 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 245 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.

870 
WFUS54 KBMX 060011
TORBHM
ALC063-060100-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 700 PM CST

* AT 610 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 26 MILES WEST OF BOLIGEE...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO 
INCLUDE...BOLIGEE...EUTAW...CLINTON AND UNION.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH...SEEK SHELTER NOW.
STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF A TORNADO...DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL
CAN BE EXPECTED. GO TO A SAFE PLACE NOW.

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


$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 5, 6:40 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Hale	50 min
Mar 5, 7:43 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bibb, Chilton	32 min
Mar 5, 8:09 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Coosa	36 min
Mar 5, 8:52 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chambers, Randolph, Tallapoosa	38 min
Mar 6, 1:36 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Walker	24 min
Mar 6, 1:43 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	32 min
Mar 6, 1:48 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Blount	3 hr
Mar 6, 2:07 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	St. Clair	38 min
Mar 6, 2:21 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Calhoun	39 min
Mar 6, 2:36 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	39 min
Mar 6, 2:50 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cleburne	40 min
Mar 6, 2:57 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bibb	48 min
Mar 6, 3:05 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	40 min
Mar 6, 3:08 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	37 min
Mar 6, 3:35 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Talladega	25 min
Mar 6, 3:48 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Clay	42 min
Mar 6, 4:01 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cleburne	44 min
Mar 6, 4:45 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chilton	30 min
Mar 6, 4:49 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Coosa	26 min
Mar 6, 5:00 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tallapoosa	45 min
Mar 6, 5:02 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Autauga	28 min
Mar 6, 5:09 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Dallas	21 min
Mar 6, 5:16 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Elmore	44 min
Mar 6, 5:28 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lowndes	32 min
Mar 6, 5:39 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Montgomery	51 min
Mar 6, 5:45 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Macon, Tallapoosa	45 min
Mar 6, 5:50 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chambers, Lee	40 min
Mar 6, 6:04 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Chambers	26 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes 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.