Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 283
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 7, 2003, 7:35 AM CDT for 22 counties in Alabama; 10 counties in Mississippi; 20 counties in Tennessee. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 7, 2003, 7:35 AM CDT (12:35 UTC)
- Expired
- May 7, 2003, 1:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 52 counties
Blount County, AL, Colbert County, AL, Cullman County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jackson County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Madison County, AL, Marion County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL, Kemper County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Newton County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Scott County, MS, Winston County, MS, Bedford County, TN, Bledsoe County, TN, Cannon County, TN, Coffee County, TN, Cumberland County, TN, DeKalb County, TN, Franklin County, TN, Giles County, TN, Grundy County, TN, Lawrence County, TN, Lincoln County, TN, Marion County, TN, Marshall County, TN, Moore County, TN, Rhea County, TN, Rutherford County, TN, Sequatchie County, TN, Van Buren County, TN, Warren County, TN, White County, TN
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 7:35 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | OHX | Cannon, DeKalb, Wilson | 25 min |
| May 7, 8:03 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OHX | Rutherford | 42 min |
| May 7, 8:20 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HUN | Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale | 4 hr |
| May 7, 8:27 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OHX | Bedford, Marshall | 48 min |
| May 7, 8:52 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OHX | DeKalb, White | 43 min |
| May 7, 9:10 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HUN | Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Morgan | 3 hr |
| May 7, 9:10 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HUN | Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Morgan | 4 hr |
| May 7, 9:15 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OHX | Coffee | 30 min |
| May 7, 9:18 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OHX | Bedford | 42 min |
| May 7, 9:37 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Monroe | 53 min |
| May 7, 10:19 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lamar | 56 min |
| May 7, 10:23 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Monroe | 27 min |
| May 7, 10:24 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Lowndes | 46 min |
| May 7, 10:50 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | OHX | Bedford, Cannon, Cheatham, Clay, Coffee, Cumberland and 25 more | 5 hr |
| May 7, 10:52 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HUN | Jackson, Marshall | 3 hr |
| May 7, 11:07 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lamar | 28 min |
| May 7, 11:17 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette | 58 min |
| May 7, 11:53 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Walker | 67 min |
| May 7, 12:37 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 53 min |
| May 7, 12:45 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HUN | Madison | 4 hr |
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, 0.6 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1457 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -13 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 538 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 43 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 178 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 236 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.3
- Supercell composite
- 6.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 071236
SEL3
SPC WW 071235
ALZ000-MSZ000-TNZ000-071800-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 283
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
735 AM CDT WED MAY 7 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHERN AND WESTERN ALABAMA
EASTERN MISSISSIPPI
MIDDLE AND EASTERN TENNESSEE
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 735 AM UNTIL
100 PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 55 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF CROSSVILLE TENNESSEE TO
15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MERIDIAN MISSISSIPPI.
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 282...
DISCUSSION...MCS WITH EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE EWD
THIS MORNING AS STRONG LOW LEVEL MOISTURE INFLUX CONTINUES AHEAD OF
IT. POTENTIAL WILL EXIST FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES INVOF SMALL SCALE
LEWPS IN NRN PART OF WW...AND WITH MORE CONVENTIONAL/LONG-LIVED
SUPERCELLS NOW IN NE LA/MS.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 50 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26035.
...CORFIDI
360,0843 320,0875 320,0895 360,0863SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 11:32 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Jackson, Limestone, Madison | 88 min |
| May 6, 11:50 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Colbert, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Morgan | 6 hr |
| May 7, 1:41 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison and 1 more | 3 hr |
| May 7, 4:55 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Lauderdale | 6 hr |
| May 7, 7:06 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Cullman, Fayette, Franklin, Jackson, Lamar and 8 more | 114 min |
| May 7, 10:24 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton and 20 more | 2 hr |
| May 7, 10:35 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton and 23 more | 5 hr |
| May 7, 10:50 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Sumter | 5 hr |
| May 7, 1:42 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke and 14 more | 2 hr |
| May 7, 2:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Russell | 6 hr |
| May 7, 3:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun and 30 more | 6 hr |
| May 7, 6:29 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun and 32 more | 91 min |
| May 6, 7:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adams, Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clarke and 36 more | 5 hr |
| May 6, 9:53 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Attala, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clarke and 32 more | 97 min |
| May 7, 2:27 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Attala, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw and 36 more | 3 hr |
| May 7, 9:47 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Attala, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw and 25 more | 118 min |
| May 7, 1:54 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clay, Hinds and 23 more | 2 hr |
| May 7, 1:16 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anderson, Bedford, Benton, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley and 49 more | 3 hr |
| May 7, 2:40 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Campbell, Claiborne and 25 more | 5 hr |
| May 7, 4:26 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Campbell, Claiborne and 25 more | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2003Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2003Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 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.