Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Mobile, AL

May 31, 2004Covington County, Alabama

NWS Mobile, AL issued this tornado warning at May 31, 2004, 1:46 PM CDT for Covington County, Alabama. It was in force for 14 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: May 31, 2004, 1:46 PM CDT (18:46 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 2004, 2:00 PM CDT
In force: 14 min
Issued by: NWS Mobile, AL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Covington County, AL

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 31, 10:00 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 232 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 842 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -269 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -182 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.

178 
WFUS54 KMOB 311846
TORMOB
ALC039-311900-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
146 PM CDT MON MAY 31 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  COVINGTON COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 200 PM CDT

* AT 139 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 4 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF ESTOTHEL...AND MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...ABANDON VEHICLES AND
MOBILE HOMES AND SEEK A REINFORCED SHELTER. MOVE TO THE LOWEST FLOOR
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR CLOSET. COVER YOUR BODY WITH BLANKETS OR PILLOWS.

IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 400 PM CDT MONDAY AFTERNOON
FOR SOUTHWESTERN ALABAMA AND NORTHWEST FLORIDA AND SOUTHEAST
MISSISSIPPI.

LAT...LON 3124 8625 3115 8625 3107 8568 3129 8566

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 31, 8:07 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Choctaw	23 min
May 31, 12:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile, Washington	60 min
May 31, 12:30 PM CDT	Special Marine Warning	MOB		2 hr
May 31, 12:30 PM CDT	Special Marine Warning	MOB		2 hr
May 31, 1:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Covington	50 min
May 31, 3:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Mobile	40 min
May 31, 3:51 PM CDT	Special Marine Warning	MOB		54 min
May 31, 3:51 PM CDT	Special Marine Warning	MOB		54 min
May 31, 4:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin, Mobile	28 min
May 31, 4:43 PM CDT	Special Marine Warning	MOB		62 min
May 31, 4:43 PM CDT	Special Marine Warning	MOB		62 min
May 31, 5:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	28 min
May 31, 5:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Baldwin	29 min
May 31, 5:45 PM CDT	Special Marine Warning	MOB		60 min

Nearby

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