Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 24, NWS Mobile, AL

May 2, 2003Baldwin County, Alabama; Escambia County, Florida

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at May 2, 2003, 5:31 PM CDT for Baldwin County, Alabama; Escambia County, Florida. It was in force for 59 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, 5:31 PM CDT (22:31 UTC)
Expired: May 2, 2003, 6:30 PM CDT
In force: 59 min
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Baldwin County, AL, Escambia County, FL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:32 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 2, 5:05 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 107 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: 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.

000 
WFUS54 KMOB 022231
TORMOB
ALC003-FLC033-022330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
530 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BALDWIN COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
  ESCAMBIA COUNTY IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA

* UNTIL 630 PM CDT

* AT 527 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF DYAS...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  WALNUT HILL...BRATT BY 550 PM CDT
  OAK GROVE BY 555 PM CDT
  MCDAVID BY 615 PM CDT
  MOLINO BY 630 PM CDT

REPORTS OF A TORNADO HAVE BEEN RECEIVED WITH THIS STORM.  HAIL 
LARGER THAN GOLFBALLS HAS ALSO BEEN REPORTED.  

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

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 3106 8765 3099 8759 3099 8749 3089 8731
          3074 8731 3060 8727 3091 8776

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 2, 2:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Choctaw, Washington	57 min
May 2, 3:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Washington	43 min
May 2, 4:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Clarke	57 min
May 2, 4:37 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Baldwin	53 min
May 2, 5:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Monroe	56 min
May 2, 5:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Covington	33 min
May 2, 6:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Butler, Wilcox	52 min
May 2, 6:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Butler, Wilcox	50 min
May 2, 6:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Butler, Wilcox	49 min
May 2, 6:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	42 min
May 2, 6:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Monroe	28 min
May 2, 4:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Okaloosa, Santa Rosa	55 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2003 Tornado Warnings in Florida, 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.