Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 38, NWS Mobile, AL

November 5, 2002Baldwin County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Nov 5, 2002, 1:32 PM CST for Baldwin County, Alabama. It was in force for 10 days. 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 5, 2002, 1:32 PM CST (19:32 UTC)
Expired: Nov 15, 2002, 5:30 PM CST
In force: 10 days
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Baldwin County, AL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:32 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 15, 4:45 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Georgetown, AL	A few trees were blown down just north of Georgetown.

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 5, 9:50 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 143 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: 608 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 556 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 66 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

241 
WFUS54 KMOB 051932
TORMOB
ALC003-052030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
132 PM CST TUE NOV 5 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BALDWIN COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA

* UNTIL 230 PM CST

* AT 127 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 3 MILES WEST OF JACKSON OAK...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  BRIDGEHEAD BY 140 PM CST
  SPANISH FORT...MALBIS BY 145 PM CST
  STAPLETON...STEELWOOD BY 200 PM CST

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...ABANDON VEHICLES AND TRAILER
HOMES AND SEEK A REINFORCED SHELTER UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 3069 8795 3053 8791 3075 8762 3086 8776

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 5, 9:48 AM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Washington	3 hr
Nov 5, 10:08 AM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Clarke	3 hr
Nov 5, 11:18 AM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Conecuh	6 days
Nov 5, 11:18 AM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Escambia	6 days
Nov 5, 11:42 AM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Butler	6 days
Nov 5, 12:00 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	MOB		2 hr
Nov 5, 12:00 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	MOB		2 hr
Nov 5, 12:31 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB		44 min
Nov 5, 12:40 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Crenshaw	6 days
Nov 5, 1:21 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB		54 min
Nov 5, 1:54 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	MOB		2 hr
Nov 5, 3:48 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	MOB		102 min
Nov 5, 3:48 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	MOB		102 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.