Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2004

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 39

March 30, 20044 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Mar 30, 2004, 12:15 PM CST for 4 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 30, 2004, 12:15 PM CST (18:15 UTC)
Expired: Mar 30, 2004, 6:00 PM CST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 47 counties

Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Colbert County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Cullman County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jackson County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Madison County, AL, Marion County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL, Dade County, GA, Chickasaw County, MS, Clay County, MS, Itawamba County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lee County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Pontotoc County, MS, Union County, MS, Winston County, MS, Marion County, TN

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 30, 12:26 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Itawamba	34 min
Mar 30, 12:35 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	40 min
Mar 30, 12:45 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Lee	30 min
Mar 30, 12:56 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marion	64 min
Mar 30, 1:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	30 min
Mar 30, 1:28 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Cullman	32 min
Mar 30, 2:04 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Marshall	41 min

Discussions around it

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

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 113 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: 1366 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -148 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -171 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 
WWUS20 KWNS 301815
SEL9  
SPC WW 301815
ALZ000-MSZ000-TNZ000-310000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 39
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1215 PM CST TUE MAR 30 2004

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

       CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ALABAMA
       EAST CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
       SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1215 PM UNTIL
600 PM CST.

HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES
NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF COLUMBUS
MISSISSIPPI TO 35 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF GADSDEN ALABAMA.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR 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. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES.




DISCUSSION...STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DEVELOPING IN ZONE OF
ASCENT ASSOCIATED WITH JET EXIT REGION. STEEP LAPSE RATES...AND
STRONG 0-5 KM SHEAR WILL SUPPORT THREAT FOR ORGANIZED STORMS
INCLUDING LOW TOPPED SUPERCELLS AND BOW ECHOES WITH LARGE HAIL AND
ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND THE MAIN THREATS.

AVIATION...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60
KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 350. MEAN STORM
MOTION VECTOR 26035.


...DIAL/HART

342,0890 351,0853 330,0853 321,0890

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 30, 11:27 AM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chilton, Colbert, Coosa and 26 more	93 min
Mar 30, 3:45 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Calhoun, Cleburne, Greene, Jefferson, Pickens, St. Clair and 3 more	90 min
Mar 30, 12:21 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Anderson, Bedford, Benton, Bledsoe, Bradley, Campbell and 51 more	84 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Alabama, 2004 Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Mississippi, 2004 Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Georgia, 2004 Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.