Funnel Cloud in Alabama, May 7, 2003

Name: Funnel Cloud in Alabama, May 7, 2003
Start: 2003-05-07T14:21
End: 2003-05-07T14:21
Location: Alabama

May 7, 2003 · NWS BMX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 funnel cloud, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 7, 1:21 PM CST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 7, 1:21 PM CST, 1 hour before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL
221 PM CDT WED MAY 07 2003

TOO BUSY FOR MUCH OF A DISCUSSION.  ANOTHER IMPULSE WILL MOVE ACROSS
THE AREA TONIGHT.  SEVERAL BOUNDARIES WILL PERSIST ACROSS THE AREA
ON THURSDAY AND WILL CARRY CHANCE POPS FOR MOST SECTIONS.  UPPER
RIDGING WILL TAKE PLACE ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AND WILL LEAVE POPS
OUT OF THE FORECAST.  NEXT SYSTEM WILL APPROACH ON SUNDAY AND THEN
MORE UNSETTLED WEATHER THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK.

BHM 70/86/70/89/69 53---
MGM 71/89/70/91/69 62---

.BHM...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, May 7, 12:51 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

ALZ011>015-017>050-072045-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
151 PM CDT WED MAY 07 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM.

.DAY ONE (THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT)...

SEVERE WEATHER SHOULD LAST INTO THE EVENING HOURS WITH LONG LIVED
TORNADIC SUPERCELLS MARCHING ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA.

DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE ALSO THREATS...ALONG WITH POSSIBLE
FLASH FLOODING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY)...

AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL GRADUALLY BUILD IN FROM THE SOUTH OVER THE
REST OF THE WEEK.  THIS WILL MOVE THE AREA OF POTENTIAL SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS NORTHWARD OUT OF ALABAMA FOR THE END OF THE WEEK.

ALTHOUGH THERE WILL BE A SMALL CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY
THROUGH TUESDAY...AT THIS TIME NO WIDESPREAD OR ORGANIZED AREAS OF
SEVERE STORMS AREA EXPECTED ON THOSE DAYS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL AND STORM SPOTTERS HAVE BEEN
ACTIVATED.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 7, 1:00 PM CST, 1 hour 21 minutes before

ALZ024-071945-

THUNDERSTORM ADVISORY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
200 PM CDT WED MAY 7 2003

.A THUNDERSTORM ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR JEFFERSON COUNTY UNTIL 245 PM
CDT...

.FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS POSSIBLE FROM AN APPROACHING
THUNDERSTORM.

AT 157 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM OVER TRUSSVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT AREAS IN AND NEAR TRUSSVILLE...PINSON
AND LEEDS THROUGH 245 PM CDT.

THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE STORMS IS FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING STRIKES. IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS IN THE VICINITY OF THESE
STORMS...TAKE SHELTER NOW. IF LIGHTNING IS OBSERVED... WAIT AT LEAST
30 MINUTES AFTER THE LAST LIGHTNING STRIKE BEFORE RESUMING OUTDOOR
ACTIVITIES.

LAT...LON 3376 8656 3354 8653 3349 8670 3370 8675
          3376 8667

Local storm report, May 7, 1:45 PM CST, 36 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
245 PM CDT WED MAY 07 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1246 PM    JASPER                    AL   FUNNEL CLOUD
05/07/03   WALKER                         ON HWY 78.  REPORTED BY
                                          WALKER COUNTY 911.

1250 PM    SUMITON                   AL   FUNNEL CLOUD
05/07/03   WALKER                         REPORTED BY THE POLICE
                                          DEPARTMENT.

0132 PM    PINSON                    AL   FUNNEL CLOUD
05/07/03   JEFFERSON                      REPORTED BY THE POLICE
                                          DEPARTMENT.

0200 PM    TRUSSVILLE                AL   0.50 IN HAIL
05/07/03   JEFFERSON                      MARBLE SIZE HAIL.
                                          REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR.

0210 PM    CALERA                    AL   FUNNEL CLOUD
05/07/03   SHELBY                         AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER
                                          SERVICE OFFICE.

0215 PM    CALERA                    AL   FUNNEL CLOUD
05/07/03   SHELBY                         REPORTED BY SHELBY COUNTY
                                          911.

0225 PM    3 N TALLADEGA             AL   0.75 IN HAIL
05/07/03   TALLADEGA                      PENNY SIZE HAIL.
                                          REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR.

0238 PM    KINGDOM                   AL   FUNNEL CLOUD
05/07/03   SHELBY                         PUBLIC REPORT.

0240 PM    WILSONVILLE               AL   0.75 IN HAIL
05/07/03   SHELBY                         PENNY SIZE HAIL.
                                          REPORTED BY OFF-DUTY
                                          WEATHER SERVICE
                                          EMPLOYEE.

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:21 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Jefferson

When: May 7, 2:21 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County, Leeds
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 33.554, -86.896 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A funnel cloud was reported over Leeds.

What these are

Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Alabama in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Alabama, May 2003

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5360596.