Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 109

April 6, 200316 counties in Alabama

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 6, 2003, 10:15 PM CDT for 16 counties in Alabama. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Apr 6, 2003, 10:15 PM CDT (03:15 UTC)
Expired: Apr 7, 2003, 3:00 AM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Autauga County, AL, Butler County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Perry County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 144 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:18 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.

Warnings issued inside it

10 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 6, 10:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Choctaw	65 min
Apr 6, 11:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Clarke	56 min
Apr 6, 11:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marengo	44 min
Apr 7, 12:29 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Wilcox	46 min
Apr 7, 12:37 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Wilcox	23 min
Apr 7, 12:47 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Dallas	58 min
Apr 7, 1:03 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Wilcox	42 min
Apr 7, 1:28 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lowndes	62 min
Apr 7, 2:26 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lowndes, Montgomery	64 min
Apr 7, 2:56 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Sumter	34 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 144 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: 677 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -71 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1007 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 133 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 175 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 2.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 070314
SEL9
WWUS20 KWNS 070315
SPC WW 070315
ALZ000-070800-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 109
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1015 PM CDT SUN APR 6 2003

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   SOUTHERN ALABAMA                            

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING FROM 1015 PM UNTIL
300 AM CDT.

 ...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...
 
DAMAGING TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...
THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE
POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 90 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF SELMA ALABAMA TO 30
MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF MONTGOMERY ALABAMA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 108...

DISCUSSION...LONG LIVED TORNADIC SUPERCELL AT 03Z LOCATED NRN WAYNE
COUNTY MS WILL CROSS INTO AL BY 0345Z. SHEAR REMAINS FAVORABLE
ALONG WITH THE MOIST UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR THE STORMS TO REMAIN
POTENTIALLY TORNADIC SEVERAL MORE HOURS AS IT CROSSES INTO SRN AL.
OTHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ALSO POSSIBLE N OF STORM TRACK GIVEN THE
STRONGLY SHEAR CONDITIONS.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26035.


...HALES

324,0882 324,0861 310,0861 305,0882

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 6, 8:13 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Dallas, Fayette, Greene and 8 more	2 hr
Apr 6, 9:48 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Autauga, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Hale and 6 more	87 min
Apr 6, 11:39 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Autauga, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Covington and 11 more	2 hr
Apr 7, 1:51 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bullock, Butler, Lowndes, Macon, Montgomery	54 min
Apr 7, 2:55 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Autauga, Barbour, Bullock, Chilton, Choctaw, Dallas and 13 more	4 hr
Apr 7, 4:49 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Autauga, Chambers, Chilton, Coosa, Dallas, Elmore and 11 more	3 hr
Apr 7, 9:11 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Barbour, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale and 6 more	3 hr
Apr 7, 9:40 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Barbour, Bullock, Macon, Pike, Russell	5 hr
Apr 7, 11:25 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Baldwin, Butler, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 6 more	3 hr
Apr 7, 12:07 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Baldwin, Butler, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 6 more	113 min
Apr 7, 12:22 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Baldwin, Butler, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 6 more	113 min
Apr 7, 3:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Baldwin, Covington, Escambia, Mobile	5 hr
Apr 7, 5:58 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Baldwin, Escambia, Mobile	2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2003 Every tornado watch 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.