Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 940

October 26, 200320 counties in Alabama; 12 counties in Florida; 19 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 26, 2003, 6:05 AM CST for 20 counties in Alabama; 12 counties in Florida; 19 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Oct 26, 2003, 6:05 AM CST (12:05 UTC)
Expired: Oct 26, 2003, 11:00 AM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 51 counties

Autauga County, AL, Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Butler County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Lee County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Pike County, AL, Russell County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Escambia County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Baker County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Clay County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Early County, GA, Macon County, GA, Marion County, GA, Miller County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Schley County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Webster County, GA

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 190 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: 559 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 734 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 140 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 195 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 261208
SEL0  
SPC WW 261205
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-261700-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 940 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
605 AM CST SUN OCT 26 2003

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

       SOUTHERN AND EASTERN ALABAMA
       THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL FLORIDA
       SOUTHWEST GEORGIA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY MORNING FROM 605 AM UNTIL 1100 AM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 55 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 85 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF COLUMBUS GEORGIA TO 55
MILES SOUTHWEST OF PANAMA CITY 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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 939. WATCH NUMBER 939 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 605
AM CST. 


DISCUSSION...SW AL MCS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE E AT ABOUT 25 KTS...WITH
FORWARD PROPAGATION ENCOURAGED BY SHALLOW LAYER OF ELY FLOW N OF W/E
WARM FRONT ALONG THE CST OF THE FL PANHANDLE.  POTENTIAL FOR
EMBEDDED ROTATING STORMS SHOULD PERSIST AS CONVECTIVE SYSTEM MOVES
BEYOND RESIDUAL AXIS OF WEDGE-TYPE AIR OVER S CNTRL AL.  FARTHER S
AND E... MORE ISOLATED STORMS/POSSIBLE SUPERCELLS SHOULD CONTINUE TO
DEVELOP INVOF WARM FRONT LIFTING SLOWLY N ACROSS THE FL PANHANDLE. 
ENHANCED LOW LEVEL DIRECTIONAL SHEAR AND AVAILABILITY OF RICH GULF
INFLOW MAY SUPPORT A TORNADO OR TWO WITH THESE STORMS LATER THIS
MORNING.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 50 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25020.


...CORFIDI

323,0835 293,0845 293,0874 323,0864

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 26, 1:40 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Choctaw	95 min
Oct 26, 2:00 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Baldwin, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, Washington	5 hr
Oct 26, 5:24 AM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Baldwin, Conecuh, Covington, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe	96 min
Oct 26, 9:23 AM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw and 11 more	67 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2003 Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2003 Tornado Watches in Florida, 2003 Every tornado watch in 2003

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.