Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 733

October 29, 20029 counties in Alabama; 8 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 29, 2002, 12:05 PM CST for 9 counties in Alabama; 8 counties in Florida. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Oct 29, 2002, 12:05 PM CST (18:05 UTC)
Expired: Oct 29, 2002, 6:00 PM CST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Butler County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Pike County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 29, 12:14 PM CST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Bay	7 days
Oct 29, 12:43 PM CST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Bay	13 days

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 194 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: 640 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 642 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 107 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000
WWUS20 KWNS 291806
SEL3  
SPC WW 291805
ALZ000-FLZ000-CWZ000-300000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 733
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1205 PM CST TUE OCT 29 2002

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

   SOUTHEAST ALABAMA                            
   THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE                            
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1205 PM UNTIL 600
PM CST.

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 65 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF CRESTVIEW FLORIDA TO 15
MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF MARIANNA FLORIDA.

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.

DISCUSSION...ISOLATED STRONG/SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS ARE INCREASING
OVER THE CENTRAL FL PANHANDLE...AND OVER SOUTHEAST GA.  THIS
ACTIVITY IS IN ASSOCIATION WITH REMNANT MESOSCALE CIRCULATION FROM
OVERNIGHT STORMS...AND IN VERY MOIST/TROPICAL ENVIRONMENT. 
SUFFICIENT SHEAR AND POCKETS OF DAYTIME HEATING MAY RESULT IN
ISOLATED TORNADOES OVER THIS REGION.

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 24025.

...HART

320,0865 313,0850 294,0850 300,0865

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 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.