Alert archive / Alabama / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 1025

May 16, 200328 counties in Alabama; Chattooga County, Dade County, Georgia; 8 counties in Tennessee

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 16, 2003, 1:14 PM CDT for 28 counties in Alabama; Chattooga County, Dade County, Georgia; 8 counties in Tennessee. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 2003, 1:14 PM CDT (18:14 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 2003, 3:15 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 38 counties

Blount County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Colbert County, AL, Cullman County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Jackson County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Madison County, AL, Marion County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL, Chattooga County, GA, Dade County, GA, Bedford County, TN, Coffee County, TN, Franklin County, TN, Giles County, TN, Lawrence County, TN, Lincoln County, TN, Marshall County, TN, Moore County, TN

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:15 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 watches that followed

Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 98 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 12:00Z on 2003-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 911 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 2003-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 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
911 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
639 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

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SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 9:39 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Lauderdale96 min
May 16, 1:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne and 24 more6 hr
May 16, 3:39 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne and 22 more96 min
May 16, 6:18 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChambers, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Randolph, Shelby and 2 more57 min
May 15, 7:03 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBledsoe, Blount, Cumberland, Loudon, McMinn, Meigs and 4 more87 min
May 16, 2:12 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrockett, Dyer, Haywood, Lauderdale, Shelby, Tipton93 min
May 16, 2:50 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCCrockett, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Haywood and 7 more7 hr
May 16, 5:59 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrockett, Dyer, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Haywood and 7 more91 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Alabama, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Tennessee, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Georgia, 2003Every mesoscale discussion 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.