Alert archive / Alabama / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 696

May 2, 200342 counties in Alabama; 8 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 2, 2003, 7:38 PM CDT for 42 counties in Alabama; 8 counties in Florida. It was in force for 97 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 2, 2003, 7:38 PM CDT (00:38 UTC)
Expired: May 2, 2003, 9:15 PM CDT
In force: 97 min
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 50 counties

Autauga County, AL, Baldwin County, AL, Barbour County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Butler County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Clay County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Lee County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Pike County, AL, Russell County, AL, Shelby County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Bay County, FL, Escambia County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 154 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 2674 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1099 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 61 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 51 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.5
Supercell composite: 2.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

060 
ACUS11 KWNS 030039
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 030038 
GAZ000-FLZ000-ALZ000-MSZ000-030215-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0696
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0738 PM CDT FRI MAY 02 2003

AREAS AFFECTED...CNTRL AND SRN AL/WRN FL PNHDL

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 214...

VALID 030038Z - 030215Z

LARGE HAIL AND AN ISOLATED TORNADO THREAT CONTINUES ACROSS WW0214.

SEVERAL CLUSTERS OF STRONG TO SEVERE TSTMS ARE CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS
ACROSS WRN AND NRN PORTIONS OF THE WATCH AREA. THE MAJORITY OF THESE
STORMS ARE TO THE S OF STATIONARY FRONT/OUTFLOW BOUNDARY WHICH WAS
SITUATED FROM JUST S OF TCL EWD TO AROUND LGC. 00Z SOUNDINGS FROM
BHM AND TLH INDICATE THAT THE AIRMASS TO THE S OF THIS BOUNDARY
REMAINS MODERATELY TO STRONGLY UNSTABLE WITH MLCAPES OF 2500-3500
J/KG. MOREOVER...OBSERVED SOUNDING WINDS AND RECENT VWP DATA ARE
SHOWING 40-50KT WINDS AT 500MB WHICH ARE CONTRIBUTING TO 0-6KM SHEAR
VALUES OF 35-45KTS ACROSS THE NRN HALF OF AL.

WHILE LARGE HAIL WILL REMAIN THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT
ACROSS WW0214...IT APPEARS THAT THE GREATEST TORNADO THREAT EXISTS
WITH THE SUPERCELL CROSSING OUTFLOW/STATIONARY BOUNDARY OVER SHELBY
COUNTY IN CNTRL AL.

..MEAD.. 05/03/2003

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

ATTN...WFO...FFC...TAE...BMX...MOB...JAN...

31008836 31568841 32168838 32628841 32938841 33168839
33328838 33318835 33288674 33288566 33258526 33258511
33168511 32028519 31268516 30228525 30098527 30148600
30128733 30118815 30128836 30448833

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 8:45 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Dale, Escambia, Geneva and 2 more	2 hr
May 3, 9:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Baldwin, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Escambia, Geneva and 4 more	6 hr
May 3, 11:24 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Baldwin, Escambia, Mobile	2 hr
May 3, 4:36 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Choctaw, Mobile, Washington	114 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Alabama, 2003 Mesoscale Discussions in Florida, 2003 Every 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.