Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2001

Tornado Watch 790

October 13, 200151 counties in Alabama; Escambia County, Okaloosa County, Santa Rosa County, Florida; George County, Jackson County, Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 13, 2001, 6:00 PM CDT for 51 counties in Alabama; Escambia County, Okaloosa County, Santa Rosa County, Florida; George County, Jackson County, Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Oct 13, 2001, 6:00 PM CDT (23:00 UTC)
Expired
Oct 14, 2001, 12:00 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 56 counties

Autauga County, AL, Baldwin County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Butler County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Clay County, AL, Colbert County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Cullman County, AL, Dallas County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jackson County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Madison County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Marion County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Winston County, AL, Escambia County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, George County, MS, Jackson County, MS

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 13, 6:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXHarrison, Jackson60 min
Oct 13, 6:40 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBEscambia50 min
Oct 13, 6:40 PM CDTTornado WarningLIXJackson50 min
Oct 13, 6:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile43 min
Oct 13, 6:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBConecuh, Escambia23 min
Oct 13, 7:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile33 min
Oct 13, 7:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBConecuh, Escambia31 min
Oct 13, 7:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin31 min
Oct 13, 7:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBButler39 min
Oct 13, 8:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin31 min
Oct 13, 8:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBEscambia39 min
Oct 13, 8:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBConecuh, Escambia61 min
Oct 13, 8:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBButler, Crenshaw31 min
Oct 13, 8:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBEscambia, Santa Rosa35 min
Oct 13, 8:58 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBCovington, Crenshaw32 min
Oct 13, 9:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery39 min
Oct 13, 9:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBOkaloosa, Santa Rosa29 min
Oct 13, 9:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBButler, Covington, Crenshaw54 min
Oct 13, 9:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery26 min
Oct 13, 9:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBOkaloosa46 min

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 144 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2001-10-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 185 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2001-10-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 233 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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.

656 
WWUS9 KMKC 132252
SEL0  

SEL0  
MKC WW 132245
ALZ000-FLZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-140500-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 790
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
545 PM CDT SAT OCT 13 2001

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

   ALABAMA                            
   NORTHWEST FLORIDA                            
   EXTREME SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI                        
   COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY NIGHT FROM 600 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT 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 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PENSACOLA FLORIDA TO 20 MILES
NORTH OF HUNTSVILLE 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 787...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 788...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 789. 
WATCH NUMBER 787...788...789 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 600 PM
CDT.

DISCUSSION...LINE OF STRONG/SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAS BEEN
INTENSIFYING OVER NWRN AND WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA DURING THE LAST
HOUR.  IN ADDITION...NEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO LIFT NWD
FROM THE GULF INTO EXTREME SERN MISSISSIPPI..SWRN ALABAMA...AND
NWRN FLORIDA.  AIR MASS IS MOST UNSTABLE NEAR THE GULF COAST...WITH
THERMODYNAMIC SUPPORT GRADUALLY DIMINISHING NWD INTO THE TENNESSEE
VALLEY.  HOWEVER...VAD DATA EXHIBIT VERY STRONG LOW LEVEL WINDS
ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION...AND LARGE CLOCKWISE TURNING HODOGRAPHS
INDICATE CONTINUED POTENTIAL FOR SUPERCELLS AND TORNADOES. 


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 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 20045.


...WEISS

345,0853 300,0862 300,0884 345,0880

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 13, 12:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 15 more6 hr
Oct 13, 1:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCColbert, Cullman, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale and 6 more5 hr
Oct 13, 2:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBarbour, Bullock, Butler, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 9 more5 hr
Oct 13, 4:00 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCIssaquena, Sharkey5 hr
Oct 13, 8:00 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdams, Amite, Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Claiborne and 31 more5 hr
Oct 13, 9:30 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Clay, DeSoto and 15 more4 hr

Nearby

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