Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 74, NWS Huntsville, AL

May 17, 2003Lauderdale County, Alabama

NWS Huntsville, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 2003, 7:54 AM CDT for Lauderdale County, Alabama. It was in force for 51 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: May 17, 2003, 7:54 AM CDT (12:54 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 2003, 8:45 AM CDT
In force: 51 min
Issued by: NWS Huntsville, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Lauderdale County, AL

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 167 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1273 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 140 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Huntsville, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 17, 3:00 AM CDT, 4 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 17, 3:00 AM CDT, 4 hours 54 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, May 17, 7:16 AM CDT, 38 minutes before

ALZ001>010-016-171815-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
716 AM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA.

.DAY ONE...(TODAY AND TONIGHT)...

A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF NORTH ALABAMA THROUGH 4 AM
SUNDAY MORNING. A SLOW MOVING UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM...COMBINED
WITH AMPLE MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY...WILL SET THE STAGE FOR
SEVERAL ROUNDS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE REGION TODAY
AND TONIGHT. A FEW STORMS MAY BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DIME SIZE HAIL
OR WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH...BUT THE PRIMARY CONCERN WILL BE LOCALLY
HEAVY RAIN AND POTENTIAL FLOOD PROBLEMS. ONE LINE OF STORMS WILL
BRING A THREAT OF HAZARDOUS WEATHER TO PRIMARILY NORTHWEST ALABAMA
THROUGH 10 AM...BUT ADDITIONAL STORMS ARE LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...(SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY)...

THE THREAT OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

THE SLOW MOVING UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL KEEP THE CHANCE OF SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING THROUGH MID WEEK. A FRONT WILL BRING
DRIER AND COOLER CONDITIONS TO THE REGION BY THURSDAY.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL MAY
BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.

CBD

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 17, 3:08 AM CDT, 4 hours 46 minutes before

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Special weather statement, May 17, 6:47 AM CDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before

ALZ001-002-171230-

SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
647 AM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...
HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS...

AT 650 AM...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS APPROACHING
TISHOMINGO COUNTY IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT
AROUND 35 MPH. AREAS AROUND WATERLOO...RIVERTON AND WRIGHT WILL SEE
HEAVY RAIN AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH BY AROUND 730 AM.

CBD

Special weather statement, May 17, 7:41 AM CDT, 13 minutes before

ALZ001-002-171329-

SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
741 AM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...
HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS...

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS LAUDERDALE AND
COLBERT COUNTIES AT AROUND 45 MPH. THROUGH 830 AM EXPECT LOCALLY
HEAVY RAINFALL...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND WINDS GUESTING TO NEAR 40
MPH WITH THIS LINE OF STORMS. LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS
INCLUDE WATERLOO...CHEROKEE...AND RIVERTON.  RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF UP
TO 2 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE IN WESTERN COLBERT AND LAUDERDALE COUNTIES.

KTW

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 9:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Colbert	30 min
May 17, 10:06 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Lauderdale, Lawrence	24 min
May 17, 10:23 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Limestone, Morgan	37 min
May 17, 10:40 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	HUN	Limestone	20 min
May 17, 10:45 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	HUN	Madison	30 min
May 17, 11:02 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	HUN	Limestone	13 min
May 17, 11:18 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	HUN	Madison	27 min
May 17, 11:38 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Jackson	37 min
May 17, 11:49 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Madison	26 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 2003 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.