Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 59, NWS Mobile, AL
NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at Dec 24, 2002, 3:52 AM CST for Monroe County, Alabama. It was in force for 38 min. 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 24, 2002, 3:52 AM CST (09:52 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 24, 2002, 4:30 AM CST
- In force
- 38 min
- Issued by
- NWS Mobile, AL
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Monroe County, AL
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 132 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:53 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, 4:05 AM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 E | Tunnell Spgs, AL | High winds from a thunderstorm blew down several trees near Tunnel Springs. |
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 24, 2:30 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 182 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1029 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 55 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 304 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 378 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
820 WFUS54 KMOB 240952 TORMOB ALC099-241030- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 352 AM CST TUE DEC 24 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... MONROE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA * UNTIL 430 AM CST * AT 348 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF PERDUE HILL...MOVING EAST AT 55 MPH. * THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR... KEITH...FRANKLIN BY 400 AM CST TUNNEL SPRINGS...NATCHEZ BY 405 AM CST BUENA VISTA BY 410 AM 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. 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 3170 8749 3135 8755 3159 8721 3180 8725
The office that day
Everything else NWS Mobile, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 23, 8:35 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 25 min | |
| Dec 23, 9:54 PM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Washington | 7 days |
| Dec 23, 10:32 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 43 min | |
| Dec 24, 2:07 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 38 min | |
| Dec 24, 2:09 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 36 min | |
| Dec 24, 2:19 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Clarke, Washington | 7 days |
| Dec 24, 2:23 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 37 min | |
| Dec 24, 2:36 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Monroe | 7 days |
| Dec 24, 2:40 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Choctaw | 7 days |
| Dec 24, 3:02 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Clarke, Washington | 43 min |
| Dec 24, 3:18 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 42 min | |
| Dec 24, 3:33 AM CST | Special Marine Warning | MOB | 117 min | |
| Dec 24, 3:33 AM CST | Special Marine Warning | MOB | 117 min | |
| Dec 24, 4:14 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 46 min | |
| Dec 24, 4:17 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 43 min | |
| Dec 24, 4:28 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 17 min | |
| Dec 24, 4:52 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 38 min | |
| Dec 24, 6:13 AM CST | Special Marine Warning | MOB | 2 hr | |
| Dec 24, 6:20 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 40 min | |
| Dec 24, 6:25 AM CST | Special Marine Warning | MOB | 2 hr | |
| Dec 24, 7:00 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 45 min | |
| Dec 24, 7:26 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | 34 min | |
| Dec 24, 8:18 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | MOB | Crenshaw | 117 min |
| Dec 24, 8:29 AM CST | Special Marine Warning | MOB | 61 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.