Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 896
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 24, 2004, 3:55 AM CST for 11 counties in Alabama. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Nov 24, 2004, 3:55 AM CST (09:55 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 24, 2004, 9:00 AM CST
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
Counties Blount County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Cullman County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:56 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
7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 24, 5:03 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | St. Clair | 3 hr |
| Nov 24, 6:33 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 117 min |
| Nov 24, 6:42 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Cherokee, Etowah | 3 hr |
| Nov 24, 6:52 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Blount | 3 hr |
| Nov 24, 7:03 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Talladega | 3 hr |
| Nov 24, 7:04 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Talladega | 41 min |
| Nov 24, 8:12 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Etowah and 4 more | 4 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
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 83 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 748 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -25 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 728 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 84 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 342 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 1.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
589
WWUS20 KWNS 240955
SEL6
SPC WW 240955
ALZ000-241500-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 896
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
355 AM CST WED NOV 24 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHERN ALABAMA
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 355 AM UNTIL 900 AM CST.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF GADSDEN ALABAMA TO 25
MILES SOUTHEAST OF BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA.
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 891. WATCH NUMBER 891 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 355
AM CST. CONTINUE...WW 893...WW 894...WW 895...
DISCUSSION...NORTHERN END OF CLUSTER OF SEVERE STORMS OVER WESTERN
AL WILL SPREAD INTO WW AREA OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. PRESENCE OF
SURFACE OUTFLOW BOUNDARY/WARM FRONT AND STRONG VERTICAL SHEAR
PROFILES WILL MAINTAIN A RISK OF ISOLATED TORNADOES THROUGH 15Z.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND 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
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24030.
...HART
340,0853 331,0851 331,0873 340,0874SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 23, 9:00 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Blount, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin and 10 more | 2 hr |
| Nov 23, 9:20 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Blount, Colbert, Cullman, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin and 13 more | 7 hr |
| Nov 23, 11:16 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Cullman and 14 more | 119 min |
| Nov 24, 12:30 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 12 more | 30 min |
| Nov 24, 12:45 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Greene and 7 more | 5 hr |
| Nov 24, 2:43 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Choctaw, Clarke, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Pickens and 3 more | 62 min |
| Nov 24, 3:35 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Cullman and 11 more | 25 min |
| Nov 24, 4:57 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh and 13 more | 63 min |
| Nov 24, 5:20 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Butler, Chambers, Chilton and 20 more | 6 hr |
| Nov 24, 7:11 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers and 24 more | 64 min |
| Nov 24, 7:25 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barbour, Chambers, Lee, Russell | 6 hr |
| Nov 24, 8:03 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry and 2 more | 57 min |
| Nov 24, 8:30 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston | 6 hr |
| Nov 24, 9:23 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Chambers, Lee, Russell | 97 min |
| Nov 24, 11:24 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston | 2 hr |
Nearby
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.