Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2001

Tornado Watch 789

October 13, 200115 counties in Alabama; 5 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 13, 2001, 2:00 PM CDT for 15 counties in Alabama; 5 counties in Florida. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Oct 13, 2001, 2:00 PM CDT (19:00 UTC)
Expired: Oct 13, 2001, 7:00 PM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Butler County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon 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

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 13, 2:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Escambia, Santa Rosa	30 min
Oct 13, 2:10 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Escambia, Santa Rosa	20 min
Oct 13, 2:32 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Escambia, Santa Rosa	28 min
Oct 13, 3:08 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Escambia	22 min
Oct 13, 3:33 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Escambia	27 min
Oct 13, 3:37 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Conecuh, Escambia	23 min
Oct 13, 4:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Escambia, Santa Rosa	45 min
Oct 13, 5:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Escambia, Santa Rosa	52 min
Oct 13, 6:40 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Escambia	50 min
Oct 13, 6:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Conecuh, Escambia	23 min

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 228 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: 185 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 592 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 233 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 264 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

876 
WWUS9 KMKC 131910
SEL9  

SEL9  
MKC WW 131900 
ALZ000-FLZ000-CWZ000-132300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 789
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
200 PM CDT SAT OCT 13 2001

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

SOUTHEASTERN ALABAMA
WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE
COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 200 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 55 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PENSACOLA FLORIDA TO 40 MILES
EAST NORTHEAST OF MONTGOMERY 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...  CONTINUE...WW 787...WW 788...

DISCUSSION...TORNADOES ARE LIKELY DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS IN AREA
OF MODERATE INSTABILITY AND STRONG SHEAR.

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 550. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22040.

...IMY

323,0844 301,0860 301,0875 323,0864

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, 1:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Colbert, Cullman, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale and 6 more	5 hr
Oct 13, 6:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Calhoun and 45 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2001 Tornado Watches in Florida, 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.