Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 961

November 18, 2003DeKalb County, Jackson County, Alabama; 7 counties in Georgia; 28 counties in Tennessee

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 18, 2003, 1:55 PM CST for DeKalb County, Jackson County, Alabama; 7 counties in Georgia; 28 counties in Tennessee. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Nov 18, 2003, 1:55 PM CST (19:55 UTC)
Expired
Nov 18, 2003, 7:00 PM CST
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 37 counties

DeKalb County, AL, Jackson County, AL, Catoosa County, GA, Chattooga County, GA, Dade County, GA, Gordon County, GA, Murray County, GA, Walker County, GA, Whitfield County, GA, Bledsoe County, TN, Bradley County, TN, Cannon County, TN, Clay County, TN, Coffee County, TN, Cumberland County, TN, DeKalb County, TN, Fentress County, TN, Franklin County, TN, Grundy County, TN, Hamilton County, TN, Jackson County, TN, Marion County, TN, McMinn County, TN, Meigs County, TN, Morgan County, TN, Overton County, TN, Pickett County, TN, Polk County, TN, Putnam County, TN, Rhea County, TN, Roane County, TN, Scott County, TN, Sequatchie County, TN, Smith County, TN, Van Buren County, TN, Warren County, TN, White County, TN

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 62 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:56 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 18, 1:55 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningHUNFranklin, Lincoln, Moore3 hr
Nov 18, 1:59 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXCoffee61 min
Nov 18, 2:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMarion, Sequatchie45 min
Nov 18, 2:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXSmith, Trousdale, Wilson60 min
Nov 18, 2:16 PM CSTTornado WarningHUNDeKalb29 min
Nov 18, 2:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCatoosa, Chattooga, Floyd, Walker58 min
Nov 18, 2:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXCannon, DeKalb57 min
Nov 18, 2:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDade35 min
Nov 18, 2:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBledsoe, Hamilton, Sequatchie47 min
Nov 18, 3:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCWhitfield65 min
Nov 18, 3:22 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXCumberland53 min
Nov 18, 3:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBradley, Meigs, Rhea43 min
Nov 18, 3:46 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMcMinn, Polk44 min
Nov 18, 3:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXMorgan43 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 137 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2003-11-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2003-11-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 325 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1000 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
325 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
386 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 18, 6:08 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChoctaw, Colbert, Franklin, Lamar, Marion, Pickens and 1 more2 hr
Nov 18, 6:55 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCChoctaw, Colbert, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Lamar and 9 more5 hr
Nov 18, 8:58 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Butler, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw and 4 more92 min
Nov 18, 10:30 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw and 26 more90 min
Nov 18, 11:25 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Calhoun and 38 more6 hr
Nov 18, 1:33 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDeKalb, Jackson, Madison57 min
Nov 18, 1:59 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers and 23 more91 min
Nov 18, 4:31 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Clay, Cleburne and 16 more29 min
Nov 18, 4:55 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCBarbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw and 11 more5 hr
Nov 18, 3:26 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFannin, Gilmer, Gordon, Murray, Whitfield94 min
Nov 18, 4:58 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCatoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Fannin, Murray, Walker and 1 more32 min
Nov 18, 1:29 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDyer, Fayette, Haywood, Lake, Lauderdale, Obion and 2 more3 hr
Nov 18, 1:55 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCDyer, Lake, Lauderdale, Shelby, Tipton6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2003Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2003Tornado 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.