Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003
Tornado Warning 19, NWS Huntsville, AL
NWS Huntsville, AL issued this tornado warning at May 5, 2003, 1:10 PM CDT for Cullman County, Alabama. It was in force for 20 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
- May 5, 2003, 1:10 PM CDT (18:10 UTC)
- Expired
- May 5, 2003, 1:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 20 min
- Issued by
- NWS Huntsville, AL
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Cullman County, AL
The radar
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:14 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 9:35 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 113 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1048 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -79 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 616 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 59 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 299 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 345 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.7
- Supercell composite
- 5.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
761 WFUS54 KHUN 051810 TORHUN ALC043-051830- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 108 PM CDT MON MAY 5 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... CULLMAN COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA * UNTIL 130 PM CDT * AT 109 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 10 MILES NORTH OF CULLMAN MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH. LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...BAILEYTON AND FAIRVIEW. THIS STORM SHOWS STRONG ROTATION...AND MAY PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME. DO NOT WAIT...GO TO A SAFE PLACE NOW PUT AS MANY WALLS BETWEEN YOU AND THE OUTSIDE. LAT...LON 3409 8712 3414 8663 3431 8662 3430 8707 $$ JDG
The office that day
Everything else NWS Huntsville, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 5:16 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Morgan | 29 min |
| May 5, 5:23 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Jackson | 52 min |
| May 5, 5:54 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | DeKalb, Marshall | 21 min |
| May 5, 11:38 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Franklin, Lawrence | 22 min |
| May 5, 12:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Limestone, Morgan | 17 min |
| May 5, 12:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Madison | 26 min |
| May 5, 12:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Madison | 35 min |
| May 5, 12:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Cullman, Morgan | 34 min |
| May 5, 1:25 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HUN | Marshall | 25 min |
| May 5, 1:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Lauderdale | 37 min |
| May 5, 1:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | DeKalb, Marshall | 35 min |
| May 5, 2:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Limestone | 29 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.