Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 702

September 26, 20024 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 26, 2002, 3:40 AM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Sep 26, 2002, 3:40 AM CDT (08:40 UTC)
Expired: Sep 26, 2002, 10:00 AM CDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 58 counties

Baldwin County, AL, Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Butler County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Pike County, AL, Russell County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Escambia County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Orleans Parish, LA, Saint Bernard Parish, LA, Saint Tammany Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, Clarke County, MS, Covington County, MS, Forrest County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Jones County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Marion County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Perry County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Stone County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Wayne County, MS

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 26, 4:54 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LIX	Hancock, Harrison	4 hr
Sep 26, 6:08 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Forrest, Lamar	32 min
Sep 26, 6:25 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Mobile	7 days
Sep 26, 7:41 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LIX	Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, Saint Bernard	3 hr
Sep 26, 8:00 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Santa Rosa	24 days
Sep 26, 8:16 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	JAN	Clarke, Jasper, Kemper, Lauderdale, Leake, Neshoba and 4 more	3 hr
Sep 26, 8:24 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LIX	Saint Tammany	3 hr
Sep 26, 8:48 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Okaloosa, Santa Rosa	24 days
Sep 26, 8:48 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Okaloosa	24 days
Sep 26, 9:07 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	MOB	Okaloosa	33 days

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 183 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: 201 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 461 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 365 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 455 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 260840
SEL2  
SPC WW 260840
ALZ000-FLZ000-LAZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-261500-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 702
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
340 AM CDT THU SEP 26 2002

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   SOUTHERN ALABAMA                            
   WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE                            
   SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA                          
   SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI                        
   COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY MORNING FROM 340 AM UNTIL 1000 AM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 80 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 75 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF GULFPORT
MISSISSIPPI TO 20 MILES EAST OF DOTHAN ALABAMA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND 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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH
NUMBER 701.  WATCH NUMBER 701 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 340 AM
CDT.

DISCUSSION...TORNADO THREAT EXPECTED TO SPREAD FARTHER N INTO SRN
MS/SRN AL DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.  GREATEST POTENTIAL SHOULD
REMAIN CONFINED TO SHEAR AXIS/WARM FRONT EXTENDING GENERALLY
E/ENEWD FROM CENTER OF ISIDORE.  VERY HIGH BOUNDARY LAYER DEWPOINTS
AND STRONGLY VEERING PROFILES ALONG SHEAR AXIS EXPECTED TO REMAIN
FAVORABLE FOR LOW LEVEL STORM ROTATION.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH...EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 15035.

...CORFIDI

315,0901 322,0850 300,0850 293,0901

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 25, 11:35 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Baldwin, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Escambia, Geneva and 3 more	8 hr
Sep 26, 9:40 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler and 34 more	6 hr
Sep 26, 3:15 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Calhoun and 23 more	6 hr
Sep 26, 11:10 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Wakulla	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2002 Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2002 Tornado Watches in Florida, 2002 Every tornado 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.