Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2005

Tornado Watch 821

September 25, 200525 counties in Alabama; Chattooga County, Georgia; 21 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 25, 2005, 6:50 PM CDT for 25 counties in Alabama; Chattooga County, Georgia; 21 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 25, 2005, 6:50 PM CDT (23:50 UTC)
Expired
Sep 26, 2005, 1:00 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 47 counties

Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Cullman County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Marion County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL, Chattooga County, GA, Attala County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Clarke County, MS, Clay County, MS, Itawamba County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Leake County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Madison County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Newton County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Rankin County, MS, Scott County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Winston County, MS

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:52 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 25, 7:04 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningJANHinds, Rankin4 hr
Sep 25, 7:12 PM CDTTornado WarningJANLowndes39 min
Sep 25, 7:18 PM CDTTornado WarningJANClarke57 min
Sep 25, 7:27 PM CDTTornado WarningJANJasper18 min
Sep 25, 7:32 PM CDTTornado WarningJANNoxubee45 min
Sep 25, 8:16 PM CDTTornado WarningJANClarke25 min
Sep 25, 9:50 PM CDTTornado WarningJANClarke40 min
Sep 26, 1:00 AM CDTTornado WarningHUNMarshall30 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

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 157 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, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 2005-09-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 770 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 2005-09-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 291 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
770 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
665 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
291 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
456 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
5.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 252348
SEL1  
SPC WW 252348
ALZ000-MSZ000-260600-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 821
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
750 PM EDT SUN SEP 25 2005

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

       CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ALABAMA
       CENTRAL AND EASTERN MISSISSIPPI

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING FROM 750 PM UNTIL
200 AM EDT.

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 APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 90 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MERIDIAN
MISSISSIPPI TO 50 MILES NORTHWEST OF GADSDEN ALABAMA.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).

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 819...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 820. WATCH NUMBER 819 820
WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 750 PM EDT. 

DISCUSSION...THREAT FOR SUPERCELLS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING ISOLATED
TORNADOES IS EXPECTED TO PERSIST INTO THE EVENING AS ZONE OF ASCENT
ASSOCIATED WITH THE REMNANTS OF HURRICANE RITA CONTINUES SLOWLY EWD
THROUGH THE STRONGLY SHEARED ENVIRONMENT ACROSS ERN MS AND AL.

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 400.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23030.


...DIAL/EVANS

315,0905 342,0881 342,0850 315,0874

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 25, 3:40 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCChoctaw, Sumter, Washington9 hr
Sep 25, 9:32 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Lamar, Lauderdale and 5 more88 min
Sep 25, 11:05 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee and 37 more8 hr
Sep 25, 12:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Greene and 11 more6 hr
Sep 25, 1:21 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton and 40 more114 min
Sep 25, 3:41 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton and 40 more94 min
Sep 25, 6:05 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton and 36 more55 min
Sep 24, 8:55 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdams, Attala, Bolivar, Carroll, Claiborne, Coahoma and 34 more7 hr
Sep 24, 11:31 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Attala, Bolivar, Carroll, Claiborne, Coahoma and 31 more89 min
Sep 25, 3:07 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Attala, Bolivar, Carroll, Claiborne, Coahoma and 34 more53 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2005Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2005Tornado Watches in Georgia, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.