Alert archive / Alabama / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003
Mesoscale Discussion 581
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 25, 2003, 3:08 PM CDT for 30 counties in Alabama; 23 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 2 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 25, 2003, 3:08 PM CDT (20:08 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 25, 2003, 5:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 2 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 53 counties
Autauga County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Cullman County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lee County, AL, Macon County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Russell County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Carroll County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Cobb County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Douglas County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Fulton County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Harris County, GA, Heard County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Marion County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Pike County, GA, Polk County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Troup County, GA, Upson County, GA
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:07 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, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 53 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
041 ACUS11 KWNS 252008 SWOMCD SPC MCD 252008 GAZ000-ALZ000-MSZ000-252215- MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0581 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0308 PM CDT FRI APR 25 2003 AREAS AFFECTED...NRN/CNTRL AL...N CNTRL GA CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 166... VALID 252008Z - 252215Z AREAS EAST OF WW 166 ARE BEING MONITORED FOR POSSIBILITY OF ADDITIONAL WW. WITH APPROACH OF PEAK HEATING...CONVECTION CONTINUES TO INCREASE... WITH DEEPEST DEVELOPMENT NORTH OF CYCLONIC MID-LEVEL JET AXIS ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA...WHERE MID-LEVEL CAP HAS BEEN WEAKENED. MOST PROMINENT STORMS...IN THE FORM OF A SERIES OF SUPERCELLS...APPEARS TO BE FOCUSED IN MID-LEVEL BAROCLINIC ZONE ALONG JET AXIS...FROM CHILTON COUNTY OF CENTRAL ALABAMA WESTWARD INTO THE MERIDIAN MS AREA. POTENTIAL FOR TORNADOES WILL REMAIN HIGHEST WHERE VERTICAL SHEAR IS MAXIMIZED IN VICINITY OF SURFACE WARM FRONT...NOW VICINITY OF HALE COUNTY...BUT SLOWLY SHIFTING EASTWARD INTO AREAS NORTHWEST/NORTH OF MONTGOMERY NEXT FEW HOURS. EVOLUTION OF LARGER MESOSCALE CONVECTIVE SYSTEM STILL APPEARS LIKELY LATE THIS AFTERNOON...CONTRIBUTING TO INCREASING THREAT FOR DAMAGING WINDS ...AS WELL AS ISOLATED TORNADOES/LARGE HAIL...INTO PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA BY 26/00Z. ..KERR.. 04/25/2003 ...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT... ATTN...WFO...FFC...TAE...BMX...HUN...MOB...JAN... 33418754 34258691 34308541 33938446 32938400 31938490 32158665 32348844
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25, 1:15 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Choctaw, Clarke, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Pickens and 2 more | 90 min |
| Apr 25, 3:05 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Bibb, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh and 17 more | 85 min |
| Apr 25, 5:40 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Escambia, Geneva and 2 more | 65 min |
| Apr 25, 6:05 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Coffee, Covington, Geneva, Houston | 6 hr |
| Apr 25, 7:41 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Houston | 94 min |
| Apr 25, 11:04 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Marion, Winston | 116 min |
| Apr 25, 12:45 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun and 45 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 25, 12:59 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Choctaw, Coosa and 15 more | 2 hr |
| Apr 25, 5:16 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chilton and 15 more | 59 min |
| Apr 25, 5:40 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee and 10 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 25, 9:22 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atkinson, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Clinch, Coffee and 10 more | 113 min |
| Apr 25, 10:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks and 20 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 25, 12:01 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brantley, Bryan, Camden, Charlton, Chatham, Glynn and 6 more | 119 min |
| Apr 25, 5:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa and 51 more | 5 hr |
Nearby
Mesoscale Discussions in Alabama, 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.