Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 915
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 7, 2004, 3:25 AM CST for 23 counties in Alabama; Kemper County, Lauderdale County, Noxubee County, Mississippi. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 7, 2004, 3:25 AM CST (09:25 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 7, 2004, 8:00 AM CST
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 26 counties
Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Cullman 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, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Shelby County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL, Kemper County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Noxubee County, MS
The radar
The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:25 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
20 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 7, 3:32 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar, Marion | 43 min |
| Dec 7, 3:42 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Kemper | 63 min |
| Dec 7, 3:45 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Franklin | 30 min |
| Dec 7, 3:49 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Lauderdale | 56 min |
| Dec 7, 3:53 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lamar, Pickens | 52 min |
| Dec 7, 4:02 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lamar | 28 min |
| Dec 7, 4:03 AM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Kemper | 42 min |
| Dec 7, 4:16 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene, Sumter | 44 min |
| Dec 7, 4:27 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette, Lamar | 33 min |
| Dec 7, 4:35 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Winston | 40 min |
| Dec 7, 4:41 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 49 min |
| Dec 7, 4:44 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Lauderdale | 31 min |
| Dec 7, 4:47 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Pickens | 28 min |
| Dec 7, 5:02 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene, Sumter | 28 min |
| Dec 7, 5:15 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Cullman | 45 min |
| Dec 7, 5:16 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Walker, Winston | 29 min |
| Dec 7, 5:30 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Tuscaloosa | 45 min |
| Dec 7, 5:32 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HUN | Morgan | 3 hr |
| Dec 7, 5:42 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HUN | Jackson | 3 hr |
| Dec 7, 7:11 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson | 19 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, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 86 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
- 415 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -8 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 485 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 109 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 447 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 070928
SEL5
SPC WW 070925
ALZ000-MSZ000-071400-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 915
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
325 AM CST TUE DEC 7 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHERN AND WESTERN ALABAMA
EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI
EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY MORNING FROM 325 AM UNTIL 800 AM CST.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 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 40 MILES EAST OF MERIDIAN MISSISSIPPI TO 25 MILES
NORTH NORTHEAST OF HUNTSVILLE 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...CONTINUE...WW 914...
DISCUSSION...COMPLEX SQUALL LINE WITH EMBEDDED SUPERCELL/LEWP
STRUCTURES WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EWD FROM MS INTO AL THROUGH THE
EARLY MORNING HOURS. WEAK SURFACE BASED INSTABILITY PERSISTS S OF A
WARM FRONT ACROSS NRN AL...WHILE THE STRONGEST PRESSURE FALLS AND
FORCING FOR ASCENT ARE BEGINNING TO SPREAD NEWD FROM NE MS/NW AL
TOWARD TN. EXPECT THE SQUALL LINE TO MAINTAIN INTENSITY FOR A FEW
MORE HOURS WITH THE THREAT FOR DAMAGING WINDS WITH EMBEDDED BOWING
SEGMENTS. ADDITIONALLY...THE VERY STRONG LOW-LEVEL SHEAR MAY
SUPPORT A COUPLE OF TORNADOES...ESPECIALLY NEAR THE WARM FRONT
ACROSS NWRN/NRN AL BEFORE LOW-LEVEL SHEAR BEGINS TO WEAKEN AFTER
SUNRISE.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24045.
...THOMPSON
321,0890 345,0873 345,0853 321,0870SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 7, 1:25 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bibb, Blount, Choctaw, Clarke, Cullman, Fayette and 14 more | 95 min |
| Dec 7, 4:56 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bibb, Blount, Cullman, Fayette, Greene, Hale and 13 more | 94 min |
| Dec 7, 6:03 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Clarke, Mobile, Monroe, Washington | 57 min |
| Dec 7, 6:58 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bibb, Blount, Cullman, Hale, Jackson, Jefferson and 3 more | 62 min |
| Dec 6, 9:51 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | DeSoto, Tunica | 114 min |
| Dec 6, 11:00 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Attala, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw and 45 more | 90 min |
| Dec 6, 11:20 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Attala, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw and 38 more | 6 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Alabama, 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.