Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 83, NWS Birmingham, AL

December 19, 2002Tallapoosa County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Dec 19, 2002, 4:09 PM CST for Tallapoosa County, Alabama. It was in force for 36 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, 4:09 PM CST (22:09 UTC)
Expired
Dec 19, 2002, 4:45 PM CST
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Tallapoosa County, AL

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Dec 19, 3:15 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 97 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 2002-12-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2002-12-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 444 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
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 192209
TORBHM
ALC123-192245-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 445 PM CST

* AT 407 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 19 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ALEXANDER CITY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT
  40 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...ALEXANDER 
CITY...LAKE MARTIN...DADEVILLE...GOLDVILLE...JACKSONS GAP AND NEW 
SITE.

THIS STORM SHOWS 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 3311 8560 3312 8576 3289 8599 3276 8599
          3273 8587 3296 8559

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 19, 12:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry39 min
Dec 19, 1:59 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter46 min
Dec 19, 2:23 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXPerry37 min
Dec 19, 2:35 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXBibb40 min
Dec 19, 2:46 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter29 min
Dec 19, 3:36 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXElmore39 min
Dec 19, 4:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo32 min
Dec 19, 4:38 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa52 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.