Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 35, NWS Huntsville, AL

May 17, 2003Limestone County, Alabama

NWS Huntsville, AL issued this tornado warning at May 17, 2003, 11:02 AM CDT for Limestone County, Alabama. It was in force for 13 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 17, 2003, 11:02 AM CDT (16:02 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 2003, 11:15 AM CDT
In force: 13 min
Issued by: NWS Huntsville, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Limestone County, AL

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:04 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 17, 9:20 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 134 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

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KHUN 171602
TORHUN
ALC083-171615-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1101 AM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  LIMESTONE COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 1115 AM CDT

* AT 1059 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 4 MILES WEST OF ARDMORE...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...ARDMORE AND 
  TRAVELERS ON INTERSTATE 65.

VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED FOR MORE SUBSTANTIAL
SHELTER. AS A LAST RESORT...TAKE COVER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT THAT IS
NOT PRONE TO FLOOD. HIGHWAY OVERPASSES ARE NOT SAFE

REPORTS OF DAMAGE HAVE BEEN RECEIVED DUE TO THIS STORM.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM.

LAT...LON 3500 8700 3499 8679 3488 8681 3486 8692

$$ 

RSB

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 7:54 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Lauderdale	51 min
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, 11:18 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

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.