Alert archive / Alabama / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 578

April 25, 200321 counties in Alabama; 11 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 25, 2003, 12:59 PM CDT for 21 counties in Alabama; 11 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 25, 2003, 12:59 PM CDT (17:59 UTC)
Expired
Apr 25, 2003, 3:00 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 32 counties

Autauga County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Clarke County, MS, Covington County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Jones County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Marion County, MS, Smith County, MS, Wayne County, MS

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:59 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, 6.0 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 2003-04-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2003-04-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 264 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
651 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
264 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
299 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

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
Apr 25, 1:15 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChoctaw, Clarke, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Pickens and 2 more90 min
Apr 25, 3:05 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Bibb, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh and 17 more85 min
Apr 25, 5:40 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Escambia, Geneva and 2 more65 min
Apr 25, 6:05 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCCoffee, Covington, Geneva, Houston6 hr
Apr 25, 7:41 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHouston94 min
Apr 25, 11:04 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Marion, Winston116 min
Apr 25, 12:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun and 45 more5 hr
Apr 25, 3:08 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers and 24 more2 hr
Apr 25, 5:16 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chilton and 15 more59 min
Apr 25, 5:40 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBarbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee and 10 more5 hr
Apr 24, 7:50 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdams, Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clarke and 35 more4 hr
Apr 24, 9:03 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBolivar, Coahoma, DeSoto, Panola, Quitman, Tallahatchie and 1 more117 min
Apr 24, 10:51 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clarke and 35 more84 min
Apr 24, 11:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlcorn, Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll and 49 more5 hr
Apr 25, 2:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAmite, Covington, Forrest, Franklin, George, Greene and 13 more5 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Alabama, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Mississippi, 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.