Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 611

July 1, 20034 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 1, 2003, 1:25 AM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 9 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 1, 2003, 1:25 AM CDT (06:25 UTC)
Expired
Jul 1, 2003, 10:00 AM CDT
In force
9 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 78 counties

Autauga County, AL, Baldwin County, AL, Barbour County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Butler County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne 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, Jefferson County, AL, Lee County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Marengo 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, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Escambia County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Baker County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Clay County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Early County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Harris County, GA, Heard County, GA, Marion County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Polk County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Troup County, GA, Webster County, GA, Kemper County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Noxubee County, MS

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 80 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:27 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 1, 2:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin27 min
Jul 1, 3:15 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBBaldwin, Escambia, Mobile6 hr
Jul 1, 3:18 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBBaldwin, Escambia6 hr
Jul 1, 3:50 AM CDTTornado WarningMOBCovington25 min
Jul 1, 4:53 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXBarbour37 min
Jul 1, 5:26 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXRussell64 min
Jul 1, 5:35 AM CDTTornado WarningBMXMontgomery35 min
Jul 1, 6:32 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXAutauga118 min
Jul 1, 6:41 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXMontgomery109 min
Jul 1, 6:52 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXElmore2 hr
Jul 1, 7:44 AM CDTTornado WarningTAECoffee31 min
Jul 1, 7:54 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXTallapoosa2 hr
Jul 1, 8:08 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXChambers, Lee, Macon, Randolph4 hr
Jul 1, 8:40 AM CDTTornado WarningTAECoffee, Geneva35 min
Jul 1, 9:18 AM CDTTornado WarningTAECoffee, Dale27 min
Jul 1, 9:26 AM CDTTornado WarningMOBOkaloosa34 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 00:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 80 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 00:00Z on 2003-07-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 158 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 2003-07-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 20 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
158 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-85 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1001 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 010625
SEL1  
SPC WW 010625
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-011500-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 611 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
125 AM CDT TUE JUL 1 2003

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

       SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL ALABAMA
       WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE
       WESTERN GEORGIA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY MORNING FROM 125 AM UNTIL 1000 AM CDT.

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

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 110 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE
OF A LINE FROM 90 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF SELMA ALABAMA TO 25
MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF COLUMBUS GEORGIA.

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 TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 610. WATCH NUMBER 610 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 125
AM CDT. 


DISCUSSION...REMNANTS OF T.S. BILL WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE SLOWLY NEWD
THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT AND THIS MORNING...SPREADING
STRONG LOW LEVEL SLY FLOW JUST OFF THE SURFACE EWD ACROSS MUCH OF AL
INTO WRN GA.  THIS WILL GREATLY INCREASE LOW LEVEL SHEAR AND ENHANCE
THE POTENTIAL FOR TORNADOES ACROSS WW.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXTREME
TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI
WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 400. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 19040.


...EVANS

332,0884 341,0845 310,0840 301,0880

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 30, 7:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCoffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston and 1 more113 min
Jun 30, 9:40 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Covington and 5 more5 hr
Jul 1, 4:26 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler and 41 more2 hr
Jul 1, 7:28 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers, Clay, Cleburne and 15 more62 min
Jul 1, 9:40 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCBarbour, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers, Clay, Cleburne and 16 more6 hr
Jul 1, 12:57 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Chambers, Henry, Lee, Macon and 3 more2 hr
Jul 1, 2:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Chambers, Cleburne, Henry, Houston, Lee and 2 more116 min
Jul 1, 3:05 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBay, Calhoun, Columbia, Gadsden, Hamilton, Jackson and 6 more6 hr
Jul 1, 4:26 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBryan, Chatham, Effingham, Liberty94 min
Jul 1, 5:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBryan, Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Chatham, Columbia and 21 more4 hr

Nearby

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