Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 44, NWS Mobile, AL

November 15, 2002Mobile County, Alabama; George County, Mississippi

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Nov 15, 2002, 4:40 PM CST for Mobile County, Alabama; George County, Mississippi. It was in force for 34 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 15, 2002, 4:40 PM CST (22:40 UTC)
Expired: Dec 19, 2002, 4:00 PM CST
In force: 34 days
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Mobile County, AL, George County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:41 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
Dec 19, 3:25 PM CST	Tornado F0	Malcolm, AL	A weak tornado briefly touched down near Malcolm. Several trees were blown down.

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 15, 12:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 197 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: 1213 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 182 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 205 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.

599 
WFUS54 KMOB 152240
TORMOB
ALC097-MSC039-152330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
439 PM CST FRI NOV 15 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  GEORGE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
  MOBILE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA

* UNTIL 530 PM CST

* AT 436 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 6 MILES WEST OF EARLVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  EARLVILLE BY 450 PM CST
  GEORGETOWN...LOTT AND COLEMAN DAIRY ROADS BY 510 PM CST
  KUSHLA BY 530 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.

LAT...LON 3100 8856 3089 8860 3080 8816 3098 8827

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Nov 15, 1:33 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	MOB	57 min
Nov 15, 4:10 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	35 min
Nov 15, 4:26 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	34 min
Nov 15, 4:52 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	53 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2002 Tornado Warnings in Mississippi, 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.