Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2005

Tornado Watch 871

November 15, 200528 counties in Alabama; 10 parishes in Louisiana; 28 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 15, 2005, 6:40 PM CST for 28 counties in Alabama; 10 parishes in Louisiana; 28 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Nov 15, 2005, 6:40 PM CST (00:40 UTC)
Expired
Nov 16, 2005, 1:00 AM CST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 66 counties

Autauga County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Dallas County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jackson County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Perry County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Livingston Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Saint Helena Parish, LA, Saint Tammany Parish, LA, Tangipahoa Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, West Baton Rouge Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Amite County, MS, Clarke County, MS, Copiah County, MS, Covington County, MS, Forrest County, MS, Franklin County, MS, Greene County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Jones County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Lincoln County, MS, Marion County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Newton County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Perry County, MS, Pike County, MS, Rankin County, MS, Scott County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Wayne County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:43 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 15, 6:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCopiah, Franklin, Lawrence, Lincoln76 min
Nov 15, 6:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXIberville, Pointe Coupee, West Baton Rouge, West Feliciana47 min
Nov 15, 7:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANScott36 min
Nov 15, 7:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXAmite61 min
Nov 15, 7:36 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXPike54 min
Nov 15, 7:37 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXEast Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Livingston, Saint Helena, West Baton Rouge, West Feliciana38 min
Nov 15, 8:04 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCovington, Jefferson Davis, Simpson56 min
Nov 15, 8:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXEast Baton Rouge, Livingston, Saint Helena32 min
Nov 15, 8:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANSmith57 min
Nov 15, 8:41 PM CSTTornado WarningJANCovington, Smith49 min
Nov 15, 9:04 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANJones56 min
Nov 15, 9:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa66 min
Nov 15, 9:26 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNMarshall49 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, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 104 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 2005-11-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 440 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 2005-11-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 270 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
440 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
828 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
270 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
313 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 160041
SEL1  
SPC WW 160041
ALZ000-LAZ000-MSZ000-160700-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 871
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
640 PM CST TUE NOV 15 2005

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

       NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ALABAMA
       SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA
       SOUTHERN AND EASTERN MISSISSIPPI

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 640 PM
UNTIL 100 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 APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES
NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF GADSDEN
ALABAMA TO 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF BATON ROUGE LOUISIANA.  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 867. WATCH NUMBER 867 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 640
PM CST. CONTINUE...WW 868...WW 869...WW 870...

DISCUSSION...BROKEN LINE OF STRONG/SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CURRENTLY
FROM NWRN AL SWWD INTO SWRN MS/SRN LA EXPECTED TO CONTINUE EWD. 
LATEST UPPER AIR SOUNDINGS SUPPORT THREAT OF TORNADIC SUPERCELLS
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LINE AS IT MOVES THRU A MODERATELY UNSTABLE AIR
MASS ALONG WITH FAVORABLE SHEAR PROFILES.

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 24030.


...HALES

331,0853 295,0912 313,0912 350,0853

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 15, 6:20 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee and 28 more55 min
Nov 15, 8:29 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chilton, Choctaw and 24 more91 min
Nov 15, 11:07 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton and 16 more53 min
Nov 16, 2:03 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCRandolph117 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2005Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2005Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 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.