Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2000

Tornado Watch 157

April 3, 200021 counties in Alabama; 5 counties in Florida; 5 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 3, 2000, 3:15 PM CDT for 21 counties in Alabama; 5 counties in Florida; 5 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Apr 3, 2000, 3:15 PM CDT (20:15 UTC)
Expired: Apr 3, 2000, 8:00 PM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 31 counties

Autauga County, AL, Baldwin County, AL, Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Butler County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Lee County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Pike County, AL, Russell County, AL, Escambia County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Chattahoochee County, GA, Harris County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Talbot County, GA

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 3, 3:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Elmore	51 min
Apr 3, 3:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Butler	31 min
Apr 3, 3:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lowndes	30 min
Apr 3, 3:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Montgomery	46 min
Apr 3, 4:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Elmore, Macon, Tallapoosa	61 min
Apr 3, 5:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lee, Macon	52 min
Apr 3, 6:38 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Russell	37 min
Apr 3, 6:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lee	16 min
Apr 3, 7:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Covington	43 min
Apr 3, 7:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Geneva	34 min
Apr 3, 7:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Okaloosa	16 min

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 218 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 162 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -57 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 777 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 73 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 178 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 188 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

039 
WWUS9 KMKC 031955
SEL7  
MKC WW 031948
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-040100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 157
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
248 PM CDT MON APR 3 2000

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

   SOUTHEAST ALABAMA                            
   FLORIDA PANHANDLE                            
   EXTREME SOUTHWEST GEORGIA                            
   COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 315 PM UNTIL 800
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO
80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES SOUTH OF PENSACOLA FLORIDA TO 15 MILES
NORTHWEST OF AUBURN 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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH
NUMBER 155.  WATCH NUMBER 155 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 315 PM
CDT.  CONTINUE...WW 156...

DISCUSSION...THREAT FOR SUPERCELLS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL
PERSIST AT LEAST THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS IN MODERATELY
UNSTABLE AIR MASS. ALTHOUGH STRONGEST LOW LEVEL JET WILL SHIFT N OF
THE AREA THIS EVENING...DEEP LAYER SHEAR IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN
RATHER STRONG.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23035.


...VESCIO

324,0842 301,0860 301,0882 324,0864

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 2, 7:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Choctaw, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Perry and 4 more	7 hr
Apr 2, 10:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Autauga, Barbour, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun and 26 more	6 hr
Apr 3, 2:00 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Bibb, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Perry, Pickens and 3 more	6 hr
Apr 3, 10:30 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Chilton and 39 more	6 hr
Apr 3, 1:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Randolph, Tallapoosa	7 hr
Apr 2, 11:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Butts and 48 more	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2000 Tornado Watches in Florida, 2000 Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2000 Every tornado watch in 2000

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.