Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 31, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Sep 18, 2002, 2:29 PM CDT for Madison County, Alabama. It was in force for 31 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 18, 2002, 2:29 PM CDT (19:29 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 18, 2002, 3:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Madison County, AL
The radar
The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:31 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 18, 2:40 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Meridianville, AL | A small tornado touched down briefly in a cotton field just southwest of the intersection of Countess Road and US 231 just south of Meridianville. A storm spotter video taped the funnel cloud just prior to the touchdown. Beg: 34 49.627/86 34.441 End: 34 4 |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The nearest sounding before it
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 136 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1001 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -24 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 846 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 49 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 77 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 1.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
314 WFUS54 KBMX 181929 TORBHM ALC089-182000- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 229 PM CDT WED SEP 18 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NORTHERN MADISON COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA * UNTIL 300 PM CDT * AT 226 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO OVER MERIDIANVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. * LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...HAZEL GREEN... MERIDIANVILLE AND MOORES MILL. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH...SEEK SHELTER NOW. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. CALL 1-800-856-0758 TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER. LAT...LON 3489 8678 3476 8662 3498 8634 3500 8647
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 18, 4:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison | 26 min |
| Sep 18, 5:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison, Marshall | 45 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes in 2002
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.