Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Huntsville, AL

March 19, 2003Marshall County, Alabama

NWS Huntsville, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 19, 2003, 10:59 AM CST for Marshall County, Alabama. It was in force for 31 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: Mar 19, 2003, 10:59 AM CST (16:59 UTC)
Expired: Mar 19, 2003, 11:30 AM CST
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Huntsville, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Marshall County, AL

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:13 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 19, 8:00 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 139 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: 246 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 573 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 69 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 530 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 779 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.0
Supercell composite: 3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

642 
WFUS54 KHUN 191659
TORHUN
ALC095-191730-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1056 AM CST WED MAR 19 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MARSHALL COUNTY IN NORTHEAST ALABAMA

* UNTIL 1130 AM CST

* AT 1049 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 10 MILES WEST OF GUNTERSVILLE OR 6 MILES SOUTH OF UNION 
GROVE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH. THIS STORM IS INCREASING IN 
INTENSITY AND WILL LIKELY PRODUCE A TORNADO ON THE WEST SIDE OF 
GUNTERSVILLE TO SCANT CITY.  

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...SCANT CITY 
...WEST GUNTERSVILLE AND GRANT.  

MOTORISTS SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY STRUCTURE. AS A LAST
RESORT...LIE FLAT IN A DITCH...OR DEPRESSION. COVER YOUR HEAD WITH
YOUR HANDS. HIGHWAY OVERPASSES ARE NOT SAFE

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST WEDNESDAY FOR
NORTHEASTERN ALABAMA.

LAT...LON 3433 8652 3423 8633 3444 8613 3456 8634
$$ 
JDG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 19, 8:20 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Limestone, Madison	25 min
Mar 19, 8:40 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	Madison	20 min
Mar 19, 8:50 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Cullman	25 min
Mar 19, 8:58 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	Madison	22 min
Mar 19, 9:03 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	DeKalb	27 min
Mar 19, 9:15 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	Marshall	45 min
Mar 19, 9:22 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	Madison	38 min
Mar 19, 9:54 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	Jackson	36 min
Mar 19, 10:01 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Madison	29 min
Mar 19, 10:38 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	Madison	22 min
Mar 19, 10:53 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Jackson	37 min
Mar 19, 11:08 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Madison	22 min
Mar 19, 11:24 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	Jackson	26 min
Mar 19, 11:32 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Marshall	43 min
Mar 19, 11:57 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	DeKalb, Marshall	43 min
Mar 19, 12:37 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson	38 min
Mar 19, 1:14 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson	31 min
Mar 19, 1:41 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson	6 hr
Mar 19, 1:48 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson	27 min
Mar 19, 2:00 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	DeKalb	30 min
Mar 19, 2:28 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	DeKalb	32 min
Mar 19, 3:11 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	DeKalb	19 min
Mar 19, 3:29 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	DeKalb	31 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.