Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2005

Tornado Watch 73

March 22, 200519 counties in Alabama; 33 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 22, 2005, 11:30 PM CST for 19 counties in Alabama; 33 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 22, 2005, 11:30 PM CST (05:30 UTC)
Expired
Mar 23, 2005, 6:00 AM CST
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 52 counties

Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Butler County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Lee County, AL, Macon County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Pike County, AL, Russell County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Baker County, GA, Bibb County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Clay County, GA, Crawford County, GA, Dooly County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Harris County, GA, Jones County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lee County, GA, Macon County, GA, Marion County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pike County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Schley County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Troup County, GA, Upson County, GA, Webster County, GA

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 22, 11:39 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXCoosa51 min
Mar 22, 11:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore50 min
Mar 23, 12:09 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXClay, Tallapoosa36 min
Mar 23, 12:15 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa45 min
Mar 23, 12:30 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXTallapoosa20 min
Mar 23, 12:54 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers51 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, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 182 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2005-03-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 341 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2005-03-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 6 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
341 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-39 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
836 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
86 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
110 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 230527
SEL3  
SPC WW 230527
ALZ000-GAZ000-231200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 73
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1230 AM EST WED MAR 23 2005

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

       EASTERN ALABAMA
       SOUTHWEST GEORGIA

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 1230 AM UNTIL 700 AM EST.

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 APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 80 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF LA GRANGE
GEORGIA TO 20 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF DOTHAN ALABAMA. FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).

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 72...

DISCUSSION...LINE OF STRONG/SEVERE STORMS CONTINUES ACROSS CENTRAL
AL.  THESE STORMS ARE IN REGION OF VERY STRONG VERTICAL SHEAR
PROFILES...BUT ONLY LIMITED INSTABILITY.  STORMS THUS FAR HAVE
REMAINED GENERALLY SUB-SEVERE. HOWEVER...SLIGHTLY GREATER LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE VALUES FARTHER EAST SUGGEST THE POTENTIAL FOR
INTENSIFICATION LATER TONIGHT. ISOLATED TORNADOES AND DAMAGING
WINDS APPEAR TO BE THE MAIN THREATS.

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 25035.


...HART

331,0832 310,0841 310,0865 331,0860

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 22, 6:09 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 22 more2 hr
Mar 22, 6:50 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw and 26 more7 hr
Mar 22, 7:47 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Cullman, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Marion and 1 more88 min
Mar 22, 9:36 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler and 49 more84 min
Mar 22, 10:11 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDeKalb, Jackson, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Morgan2 hr
Mar 22, 11:37 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Coffee and 19 more83 min
Mar 23, 12:35 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCChambers, Lee, Randolph7 hr
Mar 23, 1:27 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw and 27 more63 min
Mar 23, 2:11 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coffee, Coosa, Covington and 13 more2 hr
Mar 22, 6:24 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChatham36 min
Mar 22, 7:39 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBerrien, Brooks, Colquitt, Cook, Decatur, Grady and 8 more36 min
Mar 23, 1:35 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrooks, Decatur, Grady, Lowndes, Seminole, Thomas85 min
Mar 23, 3:16 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley and 36 more89 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2005Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2005Every tornado watch in 2005

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.