Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 110
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 7, 2003, 2:55 AM CDT for 19 counties in Alabama. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 7, 2003, 2:55 AM CDT (07:55 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 7, 2003, 7:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
Counties Autauga County, AL, Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Lee County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Russell County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Wilcox County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:58 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
20 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 7, 2:56 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Sumter | 34 min |
| Apr 7, 3:05 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Sumter | 25 min |
| Apr 7, 3:15 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marengo | 30 min |
| Apr 7, 3:30 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Macon, Montgomery | 60 min |
| Apr 7, 3:42 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Sumter | 4 hr |
| Apr 7, 3:46 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marengo | 19 min |
| Apr 7, 3:51 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Bullock | 29 min |
| Apr 7, 4:02 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Dallas, Perry | 43 min |
| Apr 7, 4:24 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Macon | 51 min |
| Apr 7, 4:42 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Sumter | 48 min |
| Apr 7, 4:54 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lee | 36 min |
| Apr 7, 5:26 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lee | 29 min |
| Apr 7, 5:32 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marengo, Sumter | 28 min |
| Apr 7, 5:43 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Greene, Hale | 4 hr |
| Apr 7, 5:58 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marengo | 47 min |
| Apr 7, 6:11 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Hale, Perry | 49 min |
| Apr 7, 6:35 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Dallas | 25 min |
| Apr 7, 6:46 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Choctaw | 44 min |
| Apr 7, 6:56 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Sumter | 49 min |
| Apr 7, 6:56 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Dallas | 49 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, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 84 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WWUS20 KWNS 070752 SEL0 SPC WW 070755 ALZ000-071200- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 110 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 255 AM CDT MON APR 7 2003 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ALABAMA EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY MORNING FROM 255 AM UNTIL 700 AM CDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 35 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 80 MILES WEST OF SELMA ALABAMA TO 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF AUBURN 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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 109. WATCH NUMBER 109 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 255 AM CDT. DISCUSSION...AN E-W RAIN-COOLED BOUNDARY ACROSS CENTRAL AL WILL CONTINUE TO FOCUS STRONG/SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. STRONG LOW-LEVEL SHEAR IN A MOIST AIR MASS WILL SUPPORT A CONTINUED THREAT OF SUPERCELLS AND A COUPLE OF TORNADOES. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27035. ...THOMPSON 325,0882 325,0850 315,0850 315,0882
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, 10:15 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Covington and 10 more | 5 hr |
| 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, 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
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.