Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 82, NWS Birmingham, AL

December 19, 2002Elmore County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Dec 19, 2002, 3:36 PM CST for Elmore County, Alabama. It was in force for 39 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: Dec 19, 2002, 3:36 PM CST (21:36 UTC)
Expired: Dec 19, 2002, 4:15 PM CST
In force: 39 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Elmore County, AL

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Dec 19, 3:15 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 87 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 496 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 444 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 490 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KBMX 192136
TORBHM
ALC051-192215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
336 PM CST THU DEC 19 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ELMORE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 415 PM CST

* AT 333 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 6 MILES SOUTH OF MILLBROOK...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...BLUE RIDGE...
COOSADA...ECLECTIC...KOWALIGA...MILLBROOK AND WETUMPKA.

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 ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...TAKE COVER IN AN INTERIOR
ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR...OR A BASEMENT. ABANDON MOBILE HOMES AND
VEHICLES FOR MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.

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

LAT...LON 3274 8589 3247 8619 3251 8625 3248 8631
          3243 8631 3243 8640 3255 8640 3275 8622

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 19, 12:51 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Perry	39 min
Dec 19, 1:59 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Sumter	46 min
Dec 19, 2:23 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Perry	37 min
Dec 19, 2:35 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Bibb	40 min
Dec 19, 2:46 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Sumter	29 min
Dec 19, 4:09 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Tallapoosa	36 min
Dec 19, 4:13 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marengo	32 min
Dec 19, 4:38 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Coosa	52 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.