Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 32, NWS Birmingham, AL

October 4, 2002Marshall County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Oct 4, 2002, 11:36 AM CDT for Marshall County, Alabama. It was in force for 24 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Oct 4, 2002, 11:36 AM CDT (16:36 UTC)
Expired
Oct 4, 2002, 12:00 PM CDT
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Marshall County, AL

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:37 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 4.6 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2002-10-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 121 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 2002-10-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 288 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
121 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-47 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
764 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
288 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
367 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

633 
WFUS54 KBMX 041636
TORBHM
ALC095-041700-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1135 AM CDT FRI OCT 4 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MARSHALL COUNTY IN NORTHEAST ALABAMA

* UNTIL NOON CDT

* AT 1132 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER MELTONSVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. ANOTHER  
TORNADO WAS INDICATED 3 MILES NORTHEAST OF GRANT.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...GRANT AND
MELTONSVILLE.

RAIN MAY MAKE THIS TORNADO INVISIBLE. TAKE COVER NOW IF YOU WAIT
UNTIL YOU SEE OR HEAR IT COMING...IT MAY BE TOO LATE TO GET TO A SAFE
PLACE.

CALL 1-800-856-0758 TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER.

LAT...LON 3460 8614 3456 8615 3451 8612 3448 8607
          3440 8611 3432 8623 3444 8638 3461 8629

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 4, 2:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTalladega35 min
Oct 4, 2:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Cleburne44 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.