Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 121, NWS Mobile, AL

May 2, 2003Clarke County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 2, 2003, 4:18 PM CDT for Clarke County, Alabama. It was in force for 57 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 2, 2003, 4:18 PM CDT (21:18 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 2003, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Clarke County, AL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:17 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 2, 3:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 163 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 2003-05-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1069 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL at 12:00Z on 2003-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 23 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1069 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-128 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
851 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

220 
WUUS54 KMOB 022118
SVRMOB
ALC025-022215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
416 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CLARKE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA

* UNTIL 515 PM CDT

* AT 416 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 11 MILES WEST OF CARLTON...MOVING EAST AT    
  20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  CARLTON BY 430 PM CDT
  CHOCTAW BLUFF BY 435 PM CDT

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF 
GOLFBALLS. 

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR 
YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR 
HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DO NOT DRIVE 
INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

LAT...LON 3146 8786 3143 8772 3124 8789 3127 8796
          3134 8789

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 2:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBChoctaw, Washington57 min
May 2, 3:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWashington43 min
May 2, 4:37 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin53 min
May 2, 5:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMonroe56 min
May 2, 5:31 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin59 min
May 2, 5:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBCovington33 min
May 2, 6:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBButler, Wilcox52 min
May 2, 6:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBButler, Wilcox50 min
May 2, 6:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBButler, Wilcox49 min
May 2, 6:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin42 min
May 2, 6:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMonroe28 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 2003Every 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.