Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 313

May 17, 200250 counties in Alabama; Dade County, Georgia; 8 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 17, 2002, 5:00 PM CDT for 50 counties in Alabama; Dade County, Georgia; 8 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 2002, 5:00 PM CDT (22:00 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 2002, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 59 counties

Autauga County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Butler County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Clay County, AL, Colbert County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Cullman County, AL, Dallas County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jackson County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Madison County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Marion County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Winston County, AL, Dade County, GA, Clarke County, MS, Greene County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Tishomingo County, MS, Wayne County, MS

Warnings issued inside it

20 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 5:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWalker33 min
May 17, 5:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANClarke33 min
May 17, 5:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANClarke32 min
May 17, 5:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANJasper, Lauderdale, Newton57 min
May 17, 5:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson52 min
May 17, 5:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa32 min
May 17, 5:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANKemper, Neshoba47 min
May 17, 5:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANClarke13 min
May 17, 5:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb37 min
May 17, 5:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter63 min
May 17, 6:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby27 min
May 17, 6:42 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXShelby33 min
May 17, 6:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa40 min
May 17, 7:05 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa40 min
May 17, 7:11 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXShelby34 min
May 17, 7:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPerry43 min
May 17, 7:37 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSt. Clair38 min
May 17, 7:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Chilton, Shelby26 min
May 17, 8:15 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXTalladega30 min
May 17, 8:36 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun24 min

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 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 2002-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 204 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 2002-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
204 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
747 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
7 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 172139
SEL3  
SPC WW 172135
ALZ000-MSZ000-180300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 313
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
435 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   MUCH OF ALABAMA                            
   EASTERN MISSISSIPPI                        

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 500 PM UNTIL 1000
PM CDT.

HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 80 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 100 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF SELMA
ALABAMA TO 25 MILES NORTH OF HUNTSVILLE ALABAMA.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REPLACES
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 312.  WATCH NUMBER 312 WILL NOT BE
IN EFFECT AFTER 500 PM CDT.

DISCUSSION...LINE OF STRONG/SEVERE STORMS ACROSS CENTRAL MS AND
NORTHERN AL WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK EASTWARD FOR SEVERAL MORE HOURS. 
MOIST/UNSTABLE AIRMASS AND MESOSCALE ORGANIZATION OF SYSTEM WILL
PROMOTE DAMAGING WINDS IN STRONGER CELLS.

AVIATION...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 1 INCH EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. 
A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.  MEAN STORM MOTION
VECTOR 24035.

...HART

350,0852 310,0861 310,0885 350,0881

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 12:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCColbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison and 3 more6 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Alabama, 2002Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Mississippi, 2002Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Georgia, 2002Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.