Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Mobile, AL

April 6, 2003Choctaw County, Alabama; Wayne County, Mississippi

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 6, 2003, 10:25 PM CDT for Choctaw County, Alabama; Wayne County, Mississippi. It was in force for 65 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: Apr 6, 2003, 10:25 PM CDT (03:25 UTC)
Expired: Apr 6, 2003, 11:30 PM CDT
In force: 65 min
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Choctaw County, AL, Wayne County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 134 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:28 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
Apr 6, 6:50 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr
Apr 6, 10:15 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 00:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 154 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: 614 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 742 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 417 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 582 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.9
Supercell composite: 7.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

551 
WFUS54 KMOB 070325
TORMOB
ALC023-MSC153-070430-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
1024 PM CDT SUN APR 6 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CHOCTAW COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
  WAYNE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI

* UNTIL 1130 PM CDT

* AT 1024 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 5 MILES WEST OF HIWANNEE...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  HIWANNEE...BOICE BY 1030 PM CDT
  GRETNA BY 1045 PM CDT
  ISNEY...EVANSBORO BY 1050 PM CDT
  MELVIN BY 1055 PM CDT

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.

IF IN A MOBILE HOME OR VEHICLE...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 3183 8882 3173 8876 3177 8816 3210 8816

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 6, 11:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Clarke	56 min
Apr 7, 12:29 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Wilcox	46 min
Apr 7, 12:37 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Wilcox	23 min
Apr 7, 1:03 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Wilcox	42 min
Apr 7, 6:46 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Choctaw	44 min
Apr 7, 7:52 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Wilcox	53 min
Apr 7, 1:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile	28 min
Apr 7, 3:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Covington	48 min
Apr 7, 5:23 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MOB	Baldwin	3 hr
Apr 6, 9:37 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Wayne	53 min
Apr 7, 11:07 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Stone	38 min
Apr 7, 3:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Stone	51 min
Apr 7, 4:12 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MOB	Stone	108 min
Apr 7, 4:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	George	17 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2003 Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 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.