Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 407

May 17, 200334 counties in Alabama

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 17, 2003, 2:25 PM CDT for 34 counties in Alabama. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 2003, 2:25 PM CDT (19:25 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 2003, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 34 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, Coosa County, AL, Dallas County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:28 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 2:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter33 min
May 17, 2:39 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa31 min
May 17, 2:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene39 min
May 17, 2:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, Walker32 min
May 17, 2:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson47 min
May 17, 3:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson42 min
May 17, 3:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa37 min
May 17, 3:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson39 min
May 17, 3:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa25 min
May 17, 4:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount24 min
May 17, 4:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson41 min
May 17, 4:56 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter64 min
May 17, 5:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene64 min
May 17, 5:59 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXPickens, Sumter4 hr
May 17, 6:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter59 min
May 17, 6:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSt. Clair45 min
May 17, 6:30 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa60 min
May 17, 6:39 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSumter36 min
May 17, 6:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa, Shelby, Talladega39 min
May 17, 6:58 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCoosa, Talladega32 min
May 17, 6:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo61 min
May 17, 7:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene48 min
May 17, 7:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo47 min
May 17, 8:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Cherokee34 min
May 17, 8:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo28 min
May 17, 9:17 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXMarengo6 hr
May 17, 9:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Etowah62 min
May 17, 9:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWashington37 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, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 53 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2003-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2005 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2003-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 124 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
2005 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
457 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
124 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
175 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
6.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

369 
WWUS20 KWNS 171924
SEL7  
SPC WW 171925
ALZ000-180300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 407 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
225 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003

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

       ALABAMA

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 225 PM UNTIL
1000 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 55 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 80 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF ANNISTON ALABAMA
TO 85 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF SELMA 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 403...WW 404...WW 405...WW
406...


DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS/SUPERCELLS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO
DEVELOP ALONG LOW LEVEL INSTABILITY AXIS ALONG/AHEAD OF CONVECTIVE
OUTFLOW BOUNDARY ENTERING W CNTRL AL.  THE STRONGEST LOW LEVEL
SHEAR/CONVERGENCE SHOULD CONCENTRATE ALONG THE BOUNDARY...AND THE
STRONGEST/MOST SUSTAINED STORMS SHOULD MOVE NE ALONG IT. SUFFICIENT
SHEAR/INSTABILITY LIKELY TO REMAIN PRESENT /PER 18Z BMX RAOB/ TO
SUPPORT RISK FOR HAIL/LOCALLY DAMAGING WIND AND ISOLATED TORNADOES
THROUGH EARLY TONIGHT.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 50 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...CORFIDI

323,0852 304,0881 330,0881 345,0852

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 11:41 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale and 6 more94 min
May 17, 12:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBlount, Colbert, Cullman, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence and 6 more4 hr
May 17, 2:37 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Cullman, Franklin, Lamar, Lawrence, Limestone and 5 more53 min
May 17, 7:48 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Fayette and 14 more57 min
May 17, 9:20 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCBibb, Blount, Cherokee, Choctaw, Colbert, Cullman and 25 more6 hr
May 17, 10:45 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers and 20 more90 min
May 17, 1:50 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun and 33 more115 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 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.