Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 49, NWS Mobile, AL
NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Dec 19, 2002, 1:51 PM CST for Clarke County, Alabama. It was in force for 5 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
- Dec 19, 2002, 1:51 PM CST (19:51 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 24, 2002, 3:00 AM CST
- In force
- 5 days
- Issued by
- NWS Mobile, AL
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Clarke County, AL
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:51 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 24, 2:35 AM CST | Tornado F0 | Leroy, AL | A weak tornado briefly touched down near Leroy. A couple of outbuildings were damaged and tin was blown from some of the buildings. Several trees were also 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 19, 9:35 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
| Dec 19, 11:40 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 199 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
- 668 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -7 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 480 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 304 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 417 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 5.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
965 WFUS54 KMOB 191951 TORMOB ALC025-192015- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 151 PM CST THU DEC 19 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... CLARKE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA * UNTIL 215 PM CST * AT 146 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 13 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WINN...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. * THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR... WINN...WALKER SPRINGS BY 205 PM CST GROVE HILL...PEACOCK BY 215 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. DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT. 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. IF IN A MOBILE HOME OR VEHICLE...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. LAT...LON 3165 8803 3146 8780 3169 8758 3186 8775
The office that day
Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 19, 11:28 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 47 min | |
| Dec 19, 11:48 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Washington | 4 days |
| Dec 19, 11:53 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 52 min | |
| Dec 19, 12:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 44 min | |
| Dec 19, 12:59 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Washington | 4 days |
| Dec 19, 1:32 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Washington | 4 days |
| Dec 19, 2:57 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 33 min | |
| Dec 19, 3:22 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Baldwin, Clarke, Washington | 4 days |
| Dec 19, 3:51 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Monroe | 4 days |
| Dec 19, 4:11 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 34 min | |
| Dec 19, 4:29 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 46 min | |
| Dec 19, 4:53 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 22 min | |
| Dec 19, 5:00 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 30 min | |
| Dec 19, 5:13 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 47 min | |
| Dec 19, 5:16 PM CST | Special Marine Warning | MOB | 44 min | |
| Dec 19, 5:16 PM CST | Special Marine Warning | MOB | 44 min | |
| Dec 19, 5:39 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 66 min | |
| Dec 19, 5:57 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 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.