Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2007

Tornado Watch 3

January 5, 200754 counties in Alabama; 10 counties in Florida; 7 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 5, 2007, 1:15 AM CST for 54 counties in Alabama; 10 counties in Florida; 7 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jan 5, 2007, 1:15 AM CST (07:15 UTC)
Expired
Jan 5, 2007, 7:29 AM CST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 71 counties

Autauga County, AL, Baldwin County, AL, Barbour County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Butler County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Cullman County, AL, Dale County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lee County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Marion County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Pike County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Russell County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Winston County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Escambia County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Choctaw County, MS, Clay County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Webster County, MS, Winston County, MS

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:17 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
20%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 5, 1:23 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANChoctaw34 min
Jan 5, 1:34 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANWinston41 min
Jan 5, 1:48 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXSumter57 min
Jan 5, 1:52 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANNoxubee53 min
Jan 5, 2:01 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANOktibbeha33 min
Jan 5, 2:06 AM CSTTornado WarningJANNoxubee39 min
Jan 5, 2:10 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLowndes35 min
Jan 5, 2:21 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXPickens54 min
Jan 5, 2:23 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo67 min
Jan 5, 2:23 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANClay18 min
Jan 5, 2:25 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXSumter32 min
Jan 5, 2:27 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXGreene45 min
Jan 5, 2:42 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXLamar48 min
Jan 5, 2:42 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANLowndes33 min
Jan 5, 2:48 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTuscaloosa72 min
Jan 5, 2:55 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXHale50 min
Jan 5, 3:02 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXFayette43 min
Jan 5, 3:33 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXTuscaloosa21 min
Jan 5, 4:02 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWilcox28 min
Jan 5, 4:02 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWilcox28 min
Jan 5, 4:10 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXDallas50 min
Jan 5, 4:25 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson50 min
Jan 5, 4:27 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXJefferson48 min
Jan 5, 4:38 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChilton52 min
Jan 5, 5:36 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLowndes39 min
Jan 5, 5:51 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXLowndes24 min
Jan 5, 6:05 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXMontgomery25 min
Jan 5, 6:13 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXBullock17 min
Jan 5, 6:27 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXMacon48 min
Jan 5, 6:55 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCleburne50 min
Jan 5, 7:08 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXTallapoosa37 min
Jan 5, 7:11 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXLee34 min
Jan 5, 7:19 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay, Randolph41 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, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 98 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 2007-01-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 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 2007-01-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 274 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-172 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
609 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
274 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
274 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000
WWUS20 KWNS 050716
SEL3  
SPC WW 050716
ALZ000-FLZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-051600-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 3
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
115 AM CST FRI JAN 5 2007

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

       MUCH OF ALABAMA
       WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE
       PARTS OF EASTERN MISSISSIPPI
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY MORNING FROM 115 AM UNTIL 1000 AM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 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 100 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES NORTHWEST OF
BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA TO 45 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF PANAMA CITY
FLORIDA.  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 2...

DISCUSSION...IMPRESSIVE UPPER TROUGH ROTATING NEWD ACROSS LWR MS
VALLEY WITH STRONG INFLUX OF MOIST UNSTABLE GULF  AIRMASS.  60-70 KT
OF DEEP SHEAR AND VEERING LOW LEVEL WIND PROFILES SUPPORT A
CONTINUED THREAT OF TORNADOES ASSOCIATED WITH INTENSE SQUALL LINE
NOW MOVING ACROSS ERN MS INTO WRN AL.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...HALES

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 4, 8:47 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCChoctaw, Mobile, Washington7 hr
Jan 5, 12:47 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler and 57 more28 min
Jan 5, 2:26 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChoctaw, Mobile, Washington64 min
Jan 5, 3:13 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock and 47 more62 min
Jan 5, 5:46 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun and 28 more59 min
Jan 5, 7:21 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCBarbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Clay, Coffee and 16 more8 hr
Jan 5, 9:02 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Clay, Cleburne and 17 more118 min
Jan 5, 11:31 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson and 4 more119 min
Jan 5, 1:16 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie and 17 more119 min
Jan 5, 1:49 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie and 14 more7 hr
Jan 5, 5:35 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval and 4 more85 min
Jan 4, 8:33 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCForrest, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson and 6 more87 min
Jan 4, 10:56 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClarke, Covington, Forrest, George, Greene, Hancock and 19 more94 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2007Tornado Watches in Florida, 2007Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2007Every tornado watch in 2007

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.