Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Mobile, AL

February 21, 2003Escambia County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Feb 21, 2003, 11:19 PM CST for Escambia County, Alabama. It was in force for 41 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
Feb 21, 2003, 11:19 PM CST (05:19 UTC)
Expired
Feb 22, 2003, 12:00 AM CST
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Mobile, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Escambia County, AL

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Feb 21, 8:15 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 218 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, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2003-02-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2003-02-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 151 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
779 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
186 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.

173 
WFUS54 KMOB 220519
TORMOB
ALC053-220600-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1119 PM CST FRI FEB 21 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ESCAMBIA COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST

* AT 1117 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 2 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FOSHEE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  APPLETON BY 1145 PM CST
  KIRKLAND BY 1150 PM CST

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...ABANDON VEHICLES AND TRAILER
HOMES AND SEEK A REINFORCED SHELTER UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

LAT...LON 3127 8689 3120 8683 3112 8725 3127 8715

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 21, 7:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBConecuh, Escambia31 min
Feb 21, 7:48 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMonroe42 min
Feb 21, 11:16 PM CSTSpecial Marine WarningMOB3 hr
Feb 21, 11:16 PM CSTSpecial Marine WarningMOB3 hr
Feb 21, 11:29 PM CSTTornado WarningMOBConecuh46 min
Feb 22, 1:20 AM CSTSpecial Marine WarningMOB3 hr
Feb 22, 1:34 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin26 min
Feb 22, 2:10 AM CSTSpecial Marine WarningMOB2 hr
Feb 22, 2:10 AM CSTSpecial Marine WarningMOB2 hr
Feb 22, 4:28 AM CSTSpecial Marine WarningMOB62 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.