Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 28
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 5, 2003, 4:45 PM CST for 33 counties in Alabama; Haralson County, Polk County, Georgia; 4 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 5, 2003, 4:45 PM CST (22:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 5, 2003, 11:00 PM CST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 39 counties
Autauga County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Butler County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Haralson County, GA, Polk County, GA, Clarke County, MS, Jones County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Wayne County, MS
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 117 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:49 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
8 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 5:38 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Kemper, Lauderdale | 42 min |
| Mar 5, 5:55 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 50 min |
| Mar 5, 5:57 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Sumter | 48 min |
| Mar 5, 6:11 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Greene | 49 min |
| Mar 5, 6:40 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale | 50 min |
| Mar 5, 7:33 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Haralson, Polk | 27 min |
| Mar 5, 7:43 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Chilton | 32 min |
| Mar 5, 8:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Coosa | 36 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 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 117 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 445 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 87 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 151 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 197 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
582 WWUS20 KWNS 052248 SEL8 SPC WW 052245 ALZ000-MSZ000-060500- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 28 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 445 PM CST WED MAR 5 2003 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF ALABAMA FAR SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM 445 PM UNTIL 11 PM CST. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF LAUREL MISSISSIPPI TO 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF GADSDEN 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 27... DISCUSSION...INSTABILITY REMAINS WEAK ACROSS MUCH OF AL ATTM...HOWEVER VERY STRONG SHEAR AND SLOW NWD MOVING WARM FRONT WILL INCREASE SEVERE THREAT ACROSS AL AND SERN MS THROUGH THE EVENING AS AIR MASS SLOWLY DESTABILIZES. PRIMARY SEVERE THREAT WILL LIKELY BE DAMAGING WINDS FROM SMALL LINES AND BOW ECHOES...THOUGH ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE GIVEN THE STRONG SHEAR. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH...EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23050. ...EVANS 340,0845 311,0865 311,0892 340,0873
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 3:19 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Clay, Coosa and 18 more | 116 min |
| Mar 5, 5:41 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bibb, Greene, Hale, Perry, Sumter | 94 min |
| Mar 5, 11:46 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Claiborne, Copiah, Franklin, Hinds, Holmes and 7 more | 119 min |
| Mar 5, 2:45 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Covington, Franklin and 27 more | 5 hr |
| Mar 5, 4:49 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Covington, Franklin and 26 more | 86 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2003Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2003Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2003Every 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.