Alert archive / Alabama / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003
Mesoscale Discussion 280
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Mar 18, 2003, 9:10 PM CST for 20 counties in Alabama; Escambia County, Florida; 8 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 18, 2003, 9:10 PM CST (03:10 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 18, 2003, 11:45 PM CST
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 29 counties
Autauga County, AL, Baldwin County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Escambia County, FL, Clarke County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Perry County, MS, Wayne County, MS
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:12 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
Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 3.2 hours before the alert went out and 202 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
- 394 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -35 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 631 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 71 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 150 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 260 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 3.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
152 ACUS11 KWNS 190310 SWOMCD SPC MCD 190310 ALZ000-FLZ000-MSZ000-190545- MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0280 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0910 PM CST TUE MAR 18 2003 AREAS AFFECTED...ERN AND SERN MS/SWRN AND WCNTRL AL CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL VALID 190310Z - 190545Z SQUALL-LINE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE INTO ERN MS AND WRN AL OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. WIND DAMAGE WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH MULTICELLS IN THE LINE WITH TORNADO POTENTIAL IN ISOLATED SUPERCELLS AHEAD OF THE LINE. A NEW TORNADO WATCH MAY BE REQUIRED FARTHER E SOON. THE STRENGTHENING LOW-LEVEL JET OVER ECNTRL MS OF 35 KNOTS AND APPROACHING MID-LEVEL SPEED MAX OF 80 KNOTS OVER THE NWRN GULF OF MEXICO WERE COMBINING TO CREATE FAVORABLE DEEP LAYER SHEAR FOR SUPERCELLS ACROSS ERN MS AND WRN AL. REGIONAL VAD WIND PROFILES SHOW STORM RELATIVE HELICITY VALUES HAVE INCREASED TO NEARLY 500 M2/S2 IN THE LAST COUPLE OF HOURS. DUE TO INCREASING LOW-LEVEL WIND SHEAR PROFILES...CELLS THAT MAY DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE SQUALL-LINE MOVING INTO ERN MS AND WRN AL WILL HAVE A POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES. ..BROYLES.. 03/19/2003 ...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT... ATTN...WFO...BMX...MOB...JAN...LIX... 30388880 30748907 31468906 32348888 33058863 33488795 33328697 32278653 31078691 30328734 30278830 30348875
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18, 6:39 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 13 more | 3 hr |
| Mar 18, 7:30 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Covington and 5 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 18, 10:25 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Bibb, Choctaw, Clarke, Colbert, Cullman and 24 more | 7 hr |
| Mar 18, 11:50 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bibb, Choctaw, Clarke, Colbert, Cullman, Fayette and 18 more | 115 min |
| Mar 19, 2:02 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bibb, Choctaw, Clarke, Colbert, Cullman, Dallas and 22 more | 118 min |
| Mar 19, 7:10 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Madison | 2 hr |
| Mar 19, 8:00 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | DeKalb, Jackson, Madison, Marshall, Morgan | 4 hr |
| Mar 19, 9:28 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Blount, DeKalb, Jackson, Madison, Marshall | 2 hr |
| Mar 19, 11:30 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | DeKalb, Jackson, Marshall | 7 hr |
| Mar 19, 11:58 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | DeKalb, Etowah, Jackson, Marshall | 2 hr |
| Mar 19, 12:59 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Dale, Henry, Houston, Lee and 4 more | 3 hr |
| Mar 19, 1:30 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers and 15 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 19, 2:06 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Calhoun, Cherokee, DeKalb, Etowah, Jackson, Marshall and 1 more | 114 min |
| Mar 19, 3:35 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Chambers, Lee, Macon, Randolph, Russell and 1 more | 115 min |
| Mar 19, 3:52 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, DeKalb, Etowah | 113 min |
| Mar 18, 11:53 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Hamilton, Jefferson, Leon, Madison, Taylor | 3 hr |
| Mar 19, 2:08 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brevard, Broward, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hardee and 17 more | 3 hr |
| Mar 19, 5:32 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Clay, Duval, Flagler and 10 more | 118 min |
| Mar 18, 6:08 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Franklin, Hinds and 13 more | 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.