Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 70, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Nov 11, 2002, 12:21 AM CST for Shelby County, Alabama. It was in force for 24 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
- Nov 11, 2002, 12:21 AM CST (06:21 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 11, 2002, 12:45 AM CST
- In force
- 24 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Shelby County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 3 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 11, 12:33 AM CST | Hail 1 | Calera, AL | Dime size hail was observed by NWS personnel at the Shelby County Airport. Quarter size hail was reported on CR 12 at CR 24. |
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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 10, 10:05 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 2 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
- 2257 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 800 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 64 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 277 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 331 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 4.4
- Supercell composite
- 15.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS54 KBMX 110621 TORBHM ALC117-110645- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1221 AM CST MON NOV 11 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN SHELBY COUNTY IN ALABAMA * UNTIL 1245 AM CST * AT 1216 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 7 MILES WEST OF MONTEVALLO...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH. * LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...ALABASTER... CALERA...COLUMBIANA...HARPERSVILLE...MONTEVALLO AND WILSONVILLE. 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. CALL 1-800-856-0758 TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER. LAT...LON 3323 8701 3307 8691 3308 8654 3337 8638
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 10, 6:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar | 51 min |
| Nov 10, 6:21 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette | 54 min |
| Nov 10, 6:28 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette, Lamar | 47 min |
| Nov 10, 6:41 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin, Marion | 49 min |
| Nov 10, 7:00 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marion, Walker | 45 min |
| Nov 10, 7:02 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert | 28 min |
| Nov 10, 7:07 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Winston | 53 min |
| Nov 10, 7:19 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lamar, Pickens | 41 min |
| Nov 10, 7:40 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cullman | 50 min |
| Nov 10, 7:53 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette | 52 min |
| Nov 10, 7:54 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette | 51 min |
| Nov 10, 8:04 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Pickens | 56 min |
| Nov 10, 8:11 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marshall, Morgan | 64 min |
| Nov 10, 8:12 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Franklin | 48 min |
| Nov 10, 8:25 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Walker | 50 min |
| Nov 10, 8:40 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Madison | 35 min |
| Nov 10, 8:49 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Winston | 26 min |
| Nov 10, 8:52 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cullman | 53 min |
| Nov 10, 8:55 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette | 35 min |
| Nov 10, 9:09 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Pickens | 36 min |
| Nov 10, 9:12 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jackson, Marshall | 63 min |
| Nov 10, 9:15 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Walker | 45 min |
| Nov 10, 9:36 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 39 min |
| Nov 10, 9:42 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cullman | 18 min |
| Nov 10, 10:00 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Greene | 30 min |
| Nov 10, 10:03 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Blount, Etowah | 42 min |
| Nov 10, 10:14 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 31 min |
| Nov 10, 10:14 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jackson, Marshall | 46 min |
| Nov 10, 10:23 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 52 min |
| Nov 10, 10:34 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 26 min |
| Nov 10, 10:43 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 32 min |
| Nov 10, 10:45 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Etowah, Greene, Sumter | 45 min |
| Nov 10, 11:07 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 38 min |
| Nov 10, 11:10 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 50 min |
| Nov 10, 11:22 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Hale | 38 min |
| Nov 10, 11:39 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Talladega | 36 min |
| Nov 10, 11:41 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Sumter | 34 min |
| Nov 10, 11:49 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Bibb | 41 min |
| Nov 11, 12:10 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Talladega | 35 min |
| Nov 11, 12:12 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Cleburne | 33 min |
| Nov 11, 12:13 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Greene | 17 min |
| Nov 11, 12:26 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Hale | 34 min |
| Nov 11, 12:27 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Talladega | 33 min |
| Nov 11, 12:40 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Shelby | 35 min |
| Nov 11, 12:42 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Cleburne | 48 min |
| Nov 11, 12:52 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Clay, Talladega | 38 min |
| Nov 11, 1:31 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay, Randolph | 44 min |
| Nov 11, 1:36 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 24 min |
| Nov 11, 1:42 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Clay, Randolph | 33 min |
| Nov 11, 1:55 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lee | 35 min |
| Nov 11, 1:55 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga, Coosa, Elmore | 65 min |
| Nov 11, 2:11 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Randolph | 49 min |
| Nov 11, 2:24 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 36 min |
| Nov 11, 2:38 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 37 min |
| Nov 11, 2:54 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chambers | 36 min |
| Nov 11, 3:03 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Elmore, Lowndes, Montgomery | 57 min |
| Nov 11, 5:57 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Pike | 33 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.