Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 214

May 2, 200343 counties in Alabama; 9 counties in Florida; Heard County, Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 2, 2003, 5:05 PM CDT for 43 counties in Alabama; 9 counties in Florida; Heard County, Georgia. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 2, 2003, 5:05 PM CDT (22:05 UTC)
Expired: May 2, 2003, 10:00 PM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 53 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, Randolph 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, Calhoun County, FL, Escambia County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Heard County, GA

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 136 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:07 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.

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 2, 5:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	51 min
May 2, 5:27 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Perry	48 min
May 2, 5:28 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Dallas	47 min
May 2, 5:31 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Baldwin	59 min
May 2, 5:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bibb	25 min
May 2, 5:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Hale	40 min
May 2, 5:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Greene	36 min
May 2, 5:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Covington	33 min
May 2, 6:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Coosa	56 min
May 2, 6:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Geneva	24 min
May 2, 6:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	23 min
May 2, 6:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Dallas	46 min
May 2, 6:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Hale, Talladega	45 min
May 2, 6:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Perry	30 min
May 2, 6:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Butler, Wilcox	52 min
May 2, 6:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Shelby	65 min
May 2, 6:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Butler, Wilcox	50 min
May 2, 6:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Butler, Wilcox	49 min
May 2, 6:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marengo	59 min
May 2, 6:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lowndes	58 min
May 2, 6:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	42 min
May 2, 6:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tallapoosa	66 min
May 2, 6:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Clay, Randolph	62 min
May 2, 6:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Monroe	28 min
May 2, 6:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chambers	54 min
May 2, 7:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Dallas	12 min
May 2, 7:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Escambia	56 min
May 2, 7:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Carroll, Coweta, Fulton, Heard	27 min
May 2, 7:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Shelby	35 min
May 2, 7:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Butler	35 min
May 2, 7:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chilton, Coosa	64 min
May 2, 7:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marengo	32 min
May 2, 7:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lowndes	16 min
May 2, 7:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	40 min
May 2, 7:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Dallas, Perry	64 min
May 2, 7:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Monroe	34 min
May 2, 7:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Chambers, Tallapoosa	62 min
May 2, 7:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Crenshaw	62 min
May 2, 7:48 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Coosa	42 min
May 2, 7:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Choctaw, Clarke, Washington	49 min
May 2, 7:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bibb, Shelby	33 min
May 2, 8:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Escambia	59 min
May 2, 8:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Pike	66 min
May 2, 8:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Butler, Covington	64 min
May 2, 8:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Conecuh	57 min
May 2, 8:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lee	36 min
May 2, 8:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Escambia, Santa Rosa	65 min
May 2, 8:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tallapoosa	32 min
May 2, 8:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Perry	28 min
May 2, 8:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Clarke, Washington	42 min
May 2, 9:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bullock	39 min
May 2, 9:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Russell	28 min
May 2, 9:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin, Clarke	39 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

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 115 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: 1069 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -128 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 851 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 23 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 022202
SEL4  
SPC WW 022205
ALZ000-FLZ000-CWZ000-030300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 214 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
505 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 2003

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

       CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ALABAMA
       THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 505 PM UNTIL 1000
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 95 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTHEAST OF CENTREVILLE ALABAMA TO 35
MILES SOUTHEAST OF PENSACOLA FLORIDA.

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 SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 211. WATCH NUMBER 211 WILL NOT BE IN
EFFECT AFTER 505 PM CDT. CONTINUE...WW 207...WW 208...WW 209...WW
210...WW 212...WW 213...


DISCUSSION...SCATTERED SUPERCELLS OVER W/SW AL WILL PERSIST FOR THE
NEXT SEVERAL HOURS WHILE MOVING THROUGH AN AREA OF SBCAPE VALUES
RANGING FROM 3500-4500 J/KG.  RICH LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE AND SUFFICIENT
VERTICAL SHEAR FOR SUPERCELLS MAY SUPPORT A COUPLE OF TORNADOES
DURING THE NEXT 1-3 HOURS...MAINLY ACROSS S/SW AL.  OTHERWISE...THE
SUPERCELL STRUCTURES AND LARGE CAPE WILL SUPPORT A THREAT OF VERY
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. 

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 34015.


...THOMPSON

331,0850 300,0851 300,0882 331,0882

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 2, 1:43 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Blount, Colbert, Cullman, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin and 14 more	92 min
May 2, 1:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert and 23 more	5 hr
May 2, 3:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chambers and 26 more	4 hr
May 2, 4:57 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chambers and 25 more	93 min
May 2, 5:36 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert and 23 more	84 min
May 2, 1:23 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Rabun	2 hr
May 2, 1:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Banks, Franklin, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Rabun and 1 more	5 hr
May 2, 3:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Columbia, Glascock, McDuffie, Richmond	5 hr
May 2, 4:43 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Baldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Chattahoochee and 36 more	92 min
May 2, 5:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Baldwin, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts and 58 more	6 hr
May 2, 6:17 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Columbia, Glascock, Richmond	88 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2003 Tornado Watches in Florida, 2003 Tornado Watches in Georgia, 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.