Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 54
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 18, 2003, 7:30 PM CST for 11 counties in Alabama; Escambia County, Okaloosa County, Santa Rosa County, Florida; 5 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 18, 2003, 7:30 PM CST (01:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 19, 2003, 1:00 AM CST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
Counties Baldwin County, AL, Butler County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Escambia County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Clarke County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Wayne County, MS
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:33 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
1 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18, 7:42 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Clarke | 63 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
Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 212 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
- 394 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -35 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 631 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 71 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 150 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 260 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 3.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WWUS20 KWNS 190125 SEL4 SPC WW 190130 ALZ000-FLZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-190700- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 54 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 730 PM CST TUE MAR 18 2003 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ALABAMA WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI COASTAL WATERS EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 730 PM UNTIL 100 AM CST. 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 70 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES NORTHWEST OF MOBILE ALABAMA TO 20 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF CRESTVIEW 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... CONTINUE...WW 52...WW 53... DISCUSSION...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO INCREASE OVER SOUTHERN AL AND THE WESTERN FL PANHANDLE. VERTICAL SHEAR PROFILES WILL INCREASE FURTHER THROUGH THE EVENING...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED TORNADOES FROM STRONGEST CELLS. 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 24035. ...HART 300,0862 301,0885 321,0885 320,0862
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18, 6:39 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 13 more | 3 hr |
| Mar 18, 9:10 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh and 14 more | 3 hr |
| Mar 18, 10:25 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Bibb, Choctaw, Clarke, Colbert, Cullman and 24 more | 7 hr |
| Mar 18, 11:50 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bibb, Choctaw, Clarke, Colbert, Cullman, Fayette and 18 more | 115 min |
| Mar 19, 2:02 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bibb, Choctaw, Clarke, Colbert, Cullman, Dallas and 22 more | 118 min |
| Mar 19, 7:10 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Madison | 2 hr |
| Mar 19, 8:00 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | DeKalb, Jackson, Madison, Marshall, Morgan | 4 hr |
| Mar 19, 9:28 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Blount, DeKalb, Jackson, Madison, Marshall | 2 hr |
| Mar 19, 11:30 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | DeKalb, Jackson, Marshall | 7 hr |
| Mar 19, 11:58 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | DeKalb, Etowah, Jackson, Marshall | 2 hr |
| Mar 19, 12:59 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Dale, Henry, Houston, Lee and 4 more | 3 hr |
| Mar 19, 1:30 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers and 15 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 19, 2:06 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Calhoun, Cherokee, DeKalb, Etowah, Jackson, Marshall and 1 more | 114 min |
| Mar 19, 3:35 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Chambers, Lee, Macon, Randolph, Russell and 1 more | 115 min |
| Mar 19, 3:52 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, DeKalb, Etowah | 113 min |
| Mar 18, 11:53 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Hamilton, Jefferson, Leon, Madison, Taylor | 3 hr |
| Mar 19, 2:08 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brevard, Broward, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hardee and 17 more | 3 hr |
| Mar 19, 5:32 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Clay, Duval, Flagler and 10 more | 118 min |
| Mar 18, 6:08 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Franklin, Hinds and 13 more | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2003Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2003Tornado Watches in Florida, 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.