Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 8

February 5, 20044 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 5, 2004, 10:55 PM CST for 4 states. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Feb 5, 2004, 10:55 PM CST (04:55 UTC)
Expired: Feb 6, 2004, 4:00 AM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 40 counties

Autauga County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Perry County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Haralson County, GA, Jefferson Parish, LA, Lafourche Parish, LA, Orleans Parish, LA, Saint Bernard Parish, LA, Saint Charles Parish, LA, Saint John the Baptist Parish, LA, Saint Tammany Parish, LA, Terrebonne Parish, LA, Forrest County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Perry County, MS, Stone County, MS, Wayne County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:55 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.

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 5, 10:59 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Jefferson	4 hr
Feb 5, 11:08 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Jefferson	37 min
Feb 5, 11:37 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	St. Clair	38 min
Feb 6, 12:15 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Jefferson	16 hr
Feb 6, 12:59 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marengo	46 min
Feb 6, 1:18 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Shelby	4 hr
Feb 6, 1:30 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	St. Clair	4 hr
Feb 6, 2:40 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Dallas	3 hr

Discussions around it

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

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 118 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: 1068 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 490 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 215 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 224 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.2
Supercell composite: 5.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

413 
WWUS20 KWNS 060457
SEL8  
SPC WW 060455
ALZ000-LAZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-061000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 8
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1055 PM CST THU FEB 5 2004

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

       CENTRAL AND WESTERN ALABAMA
       SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA
       SOUTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING FROM 1055 PM
UNTIL 400 AM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 60 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 55 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES NORTH OF ANNISTON ALABAMA TO 25 MILES
SOUTH OF HOUMA LOUISIANA.

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...CONTINUE...WW 7...


DISCUSSION...SQUALL LINE MCS EXPECTED TO ACCELERATE EWD DURING THE
NEXT FEW HOURS AS SURFACE PRESSURES RISES INCREASE OVER THE LWR MS
VLY...APPARENTLY IN RESPONSE TO UPPER IMPULSE LIFTING NNE FROM THE
NWRN GULF.  STRONG DEEP SHEAR ORIENTED PARALLEL TO CONVECTIVE BAND
SHOULD REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS WITH
SMALL SCALE BOWS/ISOLATED TORNADOES.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 50 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 400.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23040.


...CORFIDI

335,0845 291,0894 291,0913 335,0864

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 5, 7:03 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Greene, Hale, Jefferson and 8 more	87 min
Feb 5, 10:01 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Greene and 10 more	59 min
Feb 6, 2:24 AM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Autauga, Calhoun, Chilton, Clarke, Clay, Cleburne and 9 more	96 min
Feb 6, 7:32 AM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw and 8 more	118 min
Feb 6, 12:51 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley and 34 more	2 hr
Feb 6, 1:15 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley and 43 more	5 hr
Feb 6, 3:23 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan and 23 more	2 hr
Feb 6, 5:30 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley and 44 more	90 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2004 Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2004 Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2004 Every tornado 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.