Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 29, 2002Marshall County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 29, 2002, 10:27 PM CST for Marshall County, Alabama. It was in force for 48 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Mar 29, 2002, 10:27 PM CST (04:27 UTC)
Expired: Mar 29, 2002, 11:15 PM CST
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Marshall County, AL

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:29 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
Mar 29, 11:20 PM CST	Tornado F1	Red Hill, AL	A tornado first touched down at a cemetary just west of Red Hill. The F1 tornado travelled on a near due east path crossing CR 14 (Warrenton Road), a small ridge and SR 79. The tornado then climbed another ridge downing trees. Once on top of the ridge, the

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

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 139 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: 1146 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1460 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 123 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 308 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.6
Supercell composite: 6.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KBMX 300427
TORBHM
ALC095-300515-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
1027 PM CST FRI MAR 29 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1115 PM CST

* AT 1024 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 8 MILES NORTHWEST OF UNION GROVE...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...UNION GROVE.

THIS STORM SHOWS STRONG ROTATION AND MAY PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY
TIME. DO NOT WAIT. GO TO A SAFE PLACE NOW PUT AS MANY WALLS BETWEEN
YOU AND THE OUTSIDE AS POSSIBLE.

IF YOU SEE WIND DAMAGE...LARGE HAIL OR SIGNIFICANT FLOODING...WAIT
UNTIL AFTER THE STORM HAS PASSED...AND THEN CALL THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE TOLL FREE AT 1, 800, 8 5 6, 0 7 5 8.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 29, 8:41 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Franklin	34 min
Mar 29, 8:56 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lawrence	64 min
Mar 29, 9:18 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Morgan	57 min
Mar 29, 9:30 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Franklin	45 min
Mar 29, 9:38 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Morgan	52 min
Mar 29, 9:39 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Limestone	36 min
Mar 29, 9:59 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lawrence	46 min
Mar 29, 10:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Madison	45 min
Mar 29, 10:08 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lawrence	37 min
Mar 29, 10:19 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Madison	41 min
Mar 29, 10:28 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Morgan	47 min
Mar 29, 11:10 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cullman	20 min
Mar 29, 11:11 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marshall	34 min
Mar 29, 11:22 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	DeKalb	38 min
Mar 29, 11:44 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marshall	31 min
Mar 29, 11:55 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	DeKalb	65 min
Mar 30, 12:04 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Etowah	41 min
Mar 30, 12:05 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	40 min
Mar 30, 12:45 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cherokee	30 min
Mar 30, 1:39 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marshall	51 min
Mar 30, 1:40 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lamar, Marion	50 min
Mar 30, 1:45 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cullman	45 min
Mar 30, 2:26 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Fayette	49 min
Mar 30, 2:34 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marion	26 min
Mar 30, 2:43 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Walker	47 min
Mar 30, 3:16 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cullman, Winston	44 min
Mar 30, 9:35 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	25 min
Mar 30, 9:58 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	47 min
Mar 30, 10:34 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	41 min
Mar 30, 10:47 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Jefferson	38 min
Mar 30, 11:13 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Shelby	17 min
Mar 30, 11:18 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Talladega	42 min
Mar 30, 11:45 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Clay	45 min
Mar 30, 12:04 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Talladega	41 min
Mar 30, 12:10 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Randolph	35 min
Mar 30, 12:40 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Randolph	20 min
Mar 30, 2:23 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bibb	37 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes 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.