Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 42, NWS Mobile, AL

November 18, 2003Greene County, Mississippi; Washington County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Nov 18, 2003, 8:10 AM CST for Greene County, Mississippi; Washington County, Alabama. It was in force for 35 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: Nov 18, 2003, 8:10 AM CST (14:10 UTC)
Expired: Nov 18, 2003, 8:45 AM CST
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Washington County, AL, Greene County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:14 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
Nov 18, 6:55 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 155 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: 309 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 620 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 273 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 352 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KMOB 181410
TORMOB
ALC129-MSC041-181445-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
810 AM CST TUE NOV 18 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WASHINGTON COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
  GREENE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI

* UNTIL 845 AM CST

* AT 808 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 6 MILES SOUTH OF
  PISGAH...AND MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO PRODUCING STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  PISGAH BY 815 AM CST
  ROUNSAVILLE BY 825 AM CST
  VINEGAR BEND BY 835 AM CST
  ESCATAWPA BY 840 AM CST

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...ABANDON VEHICLES AND
MOBILE HOMES AND SEEK A REINFORCED SHELTER. MOVE TO THE LOWEST FLOOR
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR CLOSET. COVER YOUR BODY WITH BLANKETS OR PILLOWS.

IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST TUESDAY FOR
SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI.

LAT...LON 3099 8861 3099 8843 3113 8842 3135 8821
          3142 8846

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 18, 10:36 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Perry, Wayne	54 min
Nov 18, 10:56 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Stone	49 min
Nov 18, 11:48 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	George, Greene	27 min
Nov 18, 10:33 AM CST	Special Marine Warning	MOB		87 min
Nov 18, 11:07 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Choctaw	53 min
Nov 18, 12:18 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile, Washington	57 min
Nov 18, 12:27 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	MOB		2 hr
Nov 18, 12:27 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	MOB		2 hr
Nov 18, 2:08 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	37 min
Nov 18, 2:25 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	MOB		2 hr
Nov 18, 2:50 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	40 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 2003 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.