Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2001

Tornado Watch 43

March 3, 20014 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 3, 2001, 9:45 AM CST for 4 states. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 3, 2001, 9:45 AM CST (15:45 UTC)
Expired: Mar 3, 2001, 3:00 PM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 23 counties

Baldwin County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Covington County, AL, Dale County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Calhoun County, FL, Escambia County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Saint Bernard Parish, LA, George County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Perry County, MS, Stone County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 62 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:45 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

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 3, 11:24 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile	36 min
Mar 3, 11:25 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	MOB	Baldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Covington and 7 more	6 hr
Mar 3, 12:30 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Coffee	45 min
Mar 3, 12:53 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Dale	67 min
Mar 3, 1:21 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Henry	39 min
Mar 3, 1:50 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Orleans, Saint Bernard	40 min

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 210 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: 40 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -187 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 977 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 80 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 139 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS9 KMKC 031541
SEL3  

SEL3  
WWUS9 KMKC 031535
MKC WW 031535
ALZ000-FLZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-032100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 43
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
935 AM CST SAT MAR 3 2001

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

   SOUTHERN ALABAMA                            
   WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE                            
   SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI                        
   COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 945 AM UNTIL 300
PM 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 45 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF GULFPORT
MISSISSIPPI TO 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF MARIANNA 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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 42.  WATCH NUMBER 42 WILL NOT BE IN
EFFECT AFTER 945 AM CST.

DISCUSSION...STRONG/SEVERE STORMS  MS COAST MOVING ALONG SURFACE
BOUNDARY WHICH EXTENDS EWD INTO FL PANHANDLE.  AS BOUNDARY SHIFTS
INLAND AIRMASS WILL CONTINUE TO DESTABILIZE AHEAD OF STORMS.  SHEAR
PROFILES WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY FAVORABLE FOR
SUPERCELLS/TORNADOES AS LOW LEVEL JET INCREASES ACROSS AREA AHEAD
OF VIGOROUS UPPER TROUGH MOVING THRU TX.


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 24040.


...HALES

;310,0891 313,0850 301,0850 294,0891;

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 3, 4:30 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Baldwin, Barbour, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw and 7 more	6 hr
Mar 3, 3:00 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Baldwin, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Dale, Escambia and 6 more	6 hr
Mar 3, 12:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Jefferson, Lafourche and 11 more	4 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2001 Tornado Watches in Florida, 2001 Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2001 Every tornado watch in 2001

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.