Alert archive / Alabama / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003
Mesoscale Discussion 236
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Mar 13, 2003, 9:39 AM CST for 46 counties in Alabama; Escambia County, Okaloosa County, Santa Rosa County, Florida; 17 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 2 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 13, 2003, 9:39 AM CST (15:39 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 13, 2003, 11:45 AM CST
- In force
- 2 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 66 counties
Autauga County, AL, Baldwin County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Butler County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Clay County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Cullman County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Marion County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Winston County, AL, Escambia County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Clarke County, MS, Forrest County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jones County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Perry County, MS, Stone County, MS, Wayne County, MS
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 116 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:42 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, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 116 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 428 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -101 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 783 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 111 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 86 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
011 ACUS11 KWNS 131540 SWOMCD SPC MCD 131539 ALZ000-FLZ000-MSZ000-LAZ000-131745- MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0236 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0939 AM CST THU MAR 13 2003 AREAS AFFECTED...AL CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL VALID 131539Z - 131745Z THE POTENTIAL FOR A DAMAGING WIND EVENT WILL INCREASE THROUGH THE MORNING. WW WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED. PARTIAL SUNSHINE WILL ALLOW FOR CONTINUED AIRMASS DESTABILIZATION OVER AL THIS MORNING AHEAD OF STRONG/SVR SQUALL LINE IN PROGRESS OVER WRN MS. POINT FORECAST SOUNDINGS FOR CNTRL/SRN AL FOR LATE THIS MORNING INTO EARLY AFTERNOON INDICATE MLCAPES INCREASING TO 1000-2000 J/KG WITH UNIDIRECTIONAL SHEAR PROFILES. TSTM ACTIVITY OVER MS WILL CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN AS FORCING FOR LARGE SCALE ASCENT SPREADS ACROSS THE AREA AHEAD OF SHORTWAVE TROUGH EXTENDING FROM THE MID MS VALLEY INTO ERN TX. ALTHOUGH DEEP-LAYER SHEAR WILL NOT BE PARTICULARLY STRONG...HIGHER TEMPERATURE/DEWPOINT SPREADS AT THE SURFACE SHOULD ENHANCE COLD POOL GENERATION. THUS IT APPEARS THAT THE PRIMARY THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS WITH SEVERE HAIL ALSO POSSIBLE. A WW WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. ..MEAD.. 03/13/2003 ...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT... ATTN...WFO...TAE...BMX...MOB...MEG...JAN...LIX... 32388894 33118857 33908820 34418784 34618724 34548628 34258583 33438544 32538561 31218623 30638649 29798743 29868893 30538971 31418945 32468890
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 1:58 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Covington, Escambia, Geneva, Houston | 3 hr |
| Mar 13, 10:10 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Calhoun, Cherokee and 37 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 13, 12:59 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Calhoun, Chilton and 30 more | 2 hr |
| Mar 13, 2:15 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler and 35 more | 2 hr |
| Mar 13, 3:10 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Coffee, Conecuh and 12 more | 5 hr |
| Mar 13, 5:33 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Covington | 87 min |
| Mar 13, 5:55 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Barbour, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Russell | 5 hr |
| Mar 13, 8:39 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia and 24 more | 2 hr |
| Mar 13, 8:55 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie and 10 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 13, 8:50 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adams, Amite, Attala, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll and 49 more | 5 hr |
| Mar 13, 10:45 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Hancock, Harrison | 5 hr |
| Mar 13, 11:29 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Amite, Attala, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw and 39 more | 2 hr |
| Mar 13, 1:26 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Hancock | 2 hr |
Nearby
Mesoscale Discussions in Alabama, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Mississippi, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Florida, 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.