Alert archive / Alabama / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 779

May 6, 20034 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 6, 2003, 1:26 AM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 6, 2003, 1:26 AM CDT (06:26 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 2003, 4:00 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 68 counties

Blount County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Colbert County, AL, Cullman County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Madison County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Walker County, AL, Crittenden County, AR, Lee County, AR, St. Francis County, AR, Alcorn County, MS, Benton County, MS, Bolivar County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Clay County, MS, Coahoma County, MS, DeSoto County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Marshall County, MS, Montgomery County, MS, Prentiss County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Tallahatchie County, MS, Tate County, MS, Tippah County, MS, Tishomingo County, MS, Tunica County, MS, Union County, MS, Washington County, MS, Webster County, MS, Yalobusha County, MS, Carroll County, TN, Chester County, TN, Crockett County, TN, Decatur County, TN, Fayette County, TN, Gibson County, TN, Hardeman County, TN, Hardin County, TN, Haywood County, TN, Henderson County, TN, Lauderdale County, TN, Lawrence County, TN, Lewis County, TN, Madison County, TN, McNairy County, TN, Perry County, TN, Shelby County, TN, Tipton County, TN, Wayne County, TN

The watches that followed

Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 114 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 2003-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1533 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 2003-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 202 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1533 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
824 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
91 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
202 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
4.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

097 
ACUS11 KWNS 060627
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 060626 
GAZ000-ALZ000-MSZ000-ARZ000-TNZ000-060900-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0779
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0126 AM CDT TUE MAY 06 2003

AREAS AFFECTED...PORTIONS NRN MS...NRN AL...SRN TN

CONCERNING...SEVERE TSTM POTENTIAL...TORNADO WATCH 260...

VALID 060626Z - 060900Z

SCATTERED TSTMS...SOME SEVERE...PREVAIL IN WNW-ESE ORIENTED BAND
ACROSS NRN PORTIONS MS/AL.  WRN PORTION OF ASSOCIATED BAROCLINIC
BOUNDARY -- UPON WHICH MOST ACTIVITY IS BEING GENERATED -- IS
LIFTING NWD ACROSS NRN MS ATTM AND WILL MOVE OVER PORTIONS SWRN AND
POSSIBLY SRN MID TN NEXT FEW HOURS.  ACCORDINGLY...REPLACEMENT WW
262 NEEDED.

SFC MESOANALYSIS SHOWS BOUNDARY AT 6Z FROM NEAR PBF EWD ACROSS NRN
MS NEAR TUP...THEN SEWD OVER NRN AL TO ROUGHLY 30 N AUO. 
BAROCLINICITY IS BEING REINFORCED ON ERN END BY LARGE AREA OF
CONVECTION/PRECIP...WHICH IS ALSO RETARDING NWD MOTION OF BOUNDARY
OVER MUCH OF AL.  HOWEVER...OVER NRN MS AND WRN TN...EXPECT BOUNDARY
TO CONTINUE LIFTING NNEWD AMIDST FAVORABLE VERTICAL SHEAR FOR
SUPERCELLS.  MODIFIED VWP AND OKO PROFILER SHOW 0-3 KM AGL SRH
350-550 J/KG...0-6 KM SHEAR ROUGHLY 75 KT...AND 40-50 KT LLJ
PROVIDING STRONG SR INFLOW OVER REGION.  RUC SOUNDINGS AND MODIFIED
RAOBS INDICATE MUCAPE 1500-2000 J/KG...AIDED BY ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE...INCLUDING SFC DEW POINTS NEAR 70 F.	

..EDWARDS.. 05/06/2003

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

ATTN...WFO...FFC...BMX...HUN...MEG...JAN...LZK...OHX...HUN...MEG...LZK...

33009112 34479111 34308532 32878533 

34469116 35399050 36218897 35718767 34368605

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 7:53 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert and 20 more2 hr
May 5, 9:05 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay and 17 more7 hr
May 5, 10:27 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Cullman, DeKalb and 12 more2 hr
May 6, 1:50 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCBlount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Colbert, Cullman and 14 more6 hr
May 6, 5:06 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Colbert, Cullman and 9 more3 hr
May 6, 7:40 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCBlount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Colbert, Cullman and 16 more5 hr
May 6, 10:26 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Colbert, Cullman and 15 more2 hr
May 6, 12:15 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne and 18 more90 min
May 6, 12:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton and 22 more7 hr
May 6, 3:41 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton and 20 more2 hr
May 6, 5:48 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Chilton, Coosa, Greene, Hale, Jefferson and 5 more3 hr
May 5, 10:58 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Boone, Carroll, Fulton, Marion2 hr
May 6, 10:32 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Crawford, Franklin, Sebastian, Washington118 min
May 6, 11:40 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCBenton, Boone, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson and 4 more7 hr
May 6, 3:05 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCLogan, Polk, Scott, Sebastian6 hr
May 6, 5:33 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaxter, Benton, Boone, Franklin, Fulton, Johnson and 6 more117 min
May 6, 6:55 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBaxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clark, Cleburne and 32 more5 hr

Nearby

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