Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 897
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 24, 2004, 5:20 AM CST for 4 states. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Nov 24, 2004, 5:20 AM CST (11:20 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 24, 2004, 11:00 AM CST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 31 counties
Autauga County, AL, Baldwin County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Butler County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Clay County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Escambia County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Heard County, GA, George County, MS, Jackson County, MS
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 120 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:19 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
27 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 24, 5:28 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Clarke, Washington, Wilcox | 32 min |
| Nov 24, 5:37 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Autauga, Chilton, Dallas | 38 min |
| Nov 24, 5:55 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | Harrison, Jackson | 50 min |
| Nov 24, 5:57 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Mobile | 33 min |
| Nov 24, 6:00 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Mobile | 30 min |
| Nov 24, 6:06 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lowndes | 24 min |
| Nov 24, 6:07 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Mobile | 23 min |
| Nov 24, 6:11 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Autauga | 49 min |
| Nov 24, 6:16 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Monroe | 44 min |
| Nov 24, 6:19 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chilton, Coosa | 26 min |
| Nov 24, 6:20 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Shelby | 2 hr |
| Nov 24, 6:33 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Mobile | 27 min |
| Nov 24, 6:41 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Elmore | 49 min |
| Nov 24, 6:41 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | Jackson | 49 min |
| Nov 24, 6:44 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Coosa | 31 min |
| Nov 24, 6:49 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 41 min |
| Nov 24, 7:05 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Clay | 25 min |
| Nov 24, 7:06 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tallapoosa | 39 min |
| Nov 24, 7:06 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Mobile | 24 min |
| Nov 24, 7:30 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Macon, Tallapoosa | 30 min |
| Nov 24, 7:35 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 55 min |
| Nov 24, 7:47 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Baldwin, Mobile | 58 min |
| Nov 24, 8:03 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Carroll, Heard | 42 min |
| Nov 24, 8:10 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chambers, Lee | 35 min |
| Nov 24, 8:12 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Etowah and 4 more | 4 hr |
| Nov 24, 8:16 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Covington | 29 min |
| Nov 24, 8:24 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Santa Rosa | 36 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 00:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 197 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.
287
WWUS20 KWNS 241121
SEL7
SPC WW 241120
ALZ000-FLZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-241700-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 897
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
520 AM CST WED NOV 24 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ALABAMA
WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE
EXTREME SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 520 AM UNTIL 1100 AM CST.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 75 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF MONTGOMERY ALABAMA TO
30 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF MOBILE 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 893. WATCH NUMBER 893 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 520
AM CST. CONTINUE...WW 895...WW 896...
DISCUSSION...LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...INCLUDING EMBEDDED
TORNADIC SUPERCELLS...WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK EASTWARD THIS MORNING
ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL/SOUTHERN AL. LOCAL VAD PROFILES SHOW VERY
FAVORABLE LOW LEVEL VERTICAL SHEAR FOR TORNADOES. LINE OF STORMS
WILL ALSO POSE A THREAT OF DAMAGING WINDS ACROSS WATCH AREA.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.
...HART
331,0845 301,0870 301,0890 331,0865SPC 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, 3:55 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Cullman, Etowah and 5 more | 5 hr |
| Nov 24, 4:57 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh and 13 more | 63 min |
| 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 |
| Nov 24, 1:50 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baker, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Jefferson and 6 more | 4 hr |
| Nov 24, 3:30 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Citrus, Columbia, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando and 4 more | 2 hr |
| Nov 24, 5:36 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Gilchrist and 3 more | 24 min |
| Nov 24, 9:40 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Bleckley, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Candler and 40 more | 6 hr |
| Nov 24, 1:13 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Bleckley, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Candler and 40 more | 2 hr |
| Nov 23, 6:35 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alcorn, Attala, Benton, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw and 28 more | 7 hr |
| Nov 23, 7:53 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Franklin, Hinds and 13 more | 37 min |
| Nov 23, 8:15 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Franklin, Hinds and 15 more | 6 hr |
| Nov 23, 9:14 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Claiborne, Franklin, Hinds, Humphreys, Issaquena and 5 more | 2 hr |
| Nov 23, 10:01 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Franklin, Issaquena and 4 more | 119 min |
| Nov 24, 1:28 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Franklin, Hinds and 14 more | 32 min |
| Nov 24, 1:45 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Amite, Attala, Claiborne, Copiah, Franklin and 15 more | 4 hr |
| Nov 24, 2:50 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Hancock, Harrison, Jackson | 3 hr |
| Nov 24, 5:35 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Hancock, Harrison, Jackson | 25 min |
| Nov 24, 5:55 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Harrison, Jackson | 2 hr |
| Nov 24, 10:16 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alcorn, Benton, Lafayette, Marshall, Prentiss, Tippah and 1 more | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2004Tornado Watches in Florida, 2004Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2004Every 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.