Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Watches in 2001

Tornado Watch 788

October 13, 200112 counties in Alabama; 12 counties in Mississippi; 31 counties in Tennessee

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 13, 2001, 1:00 PM CDT for 12 counties in Alabama; 12 counties in Mississippi; 31 counties in Tennessee. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Oct 13, 2001, 1:00 PM CDT (18:00 UTC)
Expired: Oct 13, 2001, 6:00 PM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 55 counties

Colbert County, AL, Cullman County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Marion County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL, Alcorn County, MS, Benton County, MS, Chickasaw County, MS, Clay County, MS, Itawamba County, MS, Lee County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Pontotoc County, MS, Prentiss County, MS, Tippah County, MS, Tishomingo County, MS, Union County, MS, Benton County, TN, Carroll County, TN, Cheatham County, TN, Chester County, TN, Crockett County, TN, Davidson County, TN, Decatur County, TN, Dickson County, TN, Gibson County, TN, Giles County, TN, Hardeman County, TN, Hardin County, TN, Henderson County, TN, Henry County, TN, Hickman County, TN, Houston County, TN, Humphreys County, TN, Lawrence County, TN, Lewis County, TN, Madison County, TN, Marshall County, TN, Maury County, TN, McNairy County, TN, Montgomery County, TN, Obion County, TN, Perry County, TN, Robertson County, TN, Stewart County, TN, Wayne County, TN, Weakley County, TN, Williamson County, TN

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 13, 1:13 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	JAN	Clay	32 min
Oct 13, 2:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Clay	46 min
Oct 13, 3:16 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	JAN	Clarke, Clay, Forrest, Jasper, Jones, Kemper and 8 more	119 min
Oct 13, 3:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Clay	25 min
Oct 13, 3:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lamar	48 min
Oct 13, 4:26 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MEG	Tishomingo	94 min
Oct 13, 5:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Fayette, Walker	41 min
Oct 13, 5:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	32 min

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 157 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: 38 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -49 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 484 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 42 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

357 
WWUS9 KMKC 131739
SEL8  

SEL8  
MKC WW 131728
ALZ000-MSZ000-TNZ000-132300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 788
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1228 PM CDT SAT OCT 13 2001

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

   NORTHWESTERN ALABAMA                            
   NORTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI                        
   WESTERN AND MIDDLE TENNESSEE                          

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 100 PM UNTIL 600
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO
70 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 60 MILES SOUTHEAST OF TUPELO MISSISSIPPI TO 75 MILES
WEST NORTHWEST OF NASHVILLE TENNESSEE.

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 786.  WATCH NUMBER 786 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 100 PM
CDT.  CONTINUE...WW 787...

DISCUSSION...DESPITE WEAK INSTABILITY...STRONG SHEAR AND PRESSURE
FALL/RISE COUPLET ALONG EWD MOVING BOUNDARY INDICATE A THREAT FOR
DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES. STORMS FROM WRN TN SWD INTO
NRN MS MAY ORGANIZE INTO A LINE AND ACCELERATE EWD THIS AFTERNOON
IN RESPONSE TO UPPER LOW LIFTING NEGATIVELY TILTED OUT OF TX. 

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH...EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23035.

...IMY

363,0864 333,0864 333,0891 363,0891

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 13, 12:15 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 15 more	6 hr
Oct 13, 2:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 9 more	5 hr
Oct 13, 6:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Calhoun and 45 more	6 hr
Oct 13, 4:00 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Issaquena, Sharkey	5 hr
Oct 13, 8:00 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Adams, Amite, Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Claiborne and 31 more	5 hr
Oct 13, 9:30 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Alcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Clay, DeSoto and 15 more	4 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2001 Tornado Watches in Alabama, 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.