Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Huntsville, AL

August 20, 2004Jackson County, Alabama

NWS Huntsville, AL issued this tornado warning at Aug 20, 2004, 3:08 PM CDT for Jackson County, Alabama. It was in force for 37 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 20, 2004, 3:08 PM CDT (20:08 UTC)
Expired
Aug 20, 2004, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Huntsville, AL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Jackson County, AL

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 15 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:08 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 20, 1:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 147 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2004-08-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 45 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2004-08-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 78 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
45 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-80 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1247 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KHUN 202008
TORHUN
ALC071-202045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
308 PM CDT FRI AUG 20 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN JACKSON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST ALABAMA

* UNTIL 345 PM CDT

* AT 303 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 13 MILES NORTHWEST OF STEVENSON...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
  STEVENSON.
  BRIDGEPORT.

GO TO A SAFE PLACE NOW TORNADOES IN HILLY OR MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN ARE
HARD TO SEE. DO NOT WAIT TO SEE OR HEAR THE TORNADO.

LAT...LON 3498 8612 3483 8608 3488 8562 3498 8564

$$ 

KULA

The office that day

Everything else NWS Huntsville, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 20, 1:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNColbert, Franklin49 min
Aug 20, 2:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNColbert, Lauderdale42 min
Aug 20, 3:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNMadison32 min
Aug 20, 3:28 PM CDTTornado WarningHUNJackson32 min
Aug 20, 4:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNJackson42 min
Aug 20, 4:14 PM CDTTornado WarningHUNJackson31 min
Aug 20, 4:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNDeKalb, Jackson45 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2004Every tornado warning in 2004Tornadoes in 2004

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.