Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 2008

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Huntsville, AL

February 6, 2008Cullman County, Alabama

NWS Huntsville, AL issued this tornado warning at Feb 6, 2008, 4:11 AM CST for Cullman County, Alabama. It was in force for 19 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Feb 6, 2008, 4:11 AM CST (10:11 UTC)
Expired: Feb 6, 2008, 4:30 AM CST
In force: 19 min
Issued by: NWS Huntsville, AL
Area: Storm-based polygon

County Cullman County, AL

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:14 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Feb 5, 10:01 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	8 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 116 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 771 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -36 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 947 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 223 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 320 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.3
Supercell composite: 4.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KHUN 061012
TORHUN
ALC043-061030-
/O.NEW.KHUN.TO.W.0008.080206T1011Z-080206T1030Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
411 AM CST WED FEB 6 2008

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN CULLMAN COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA...

* UNTIL 430 AM CST

* AT 410 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 2 MILES EAST  
  OF PHELAN...OR ABOUT 6 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CULLMAN...MOVING         
  NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.

* LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
  HOLLY POND.
  BAILEYTON.
  JOPPA.
  WALTER.
  FAIRVIEW.

TORNADOES AT NIGHT ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU
SEE OR HEAR THE TORNADO...IT MAY BE TOO LATE. TAKE COVER NOW.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 AM CST WEDNESDAY MORNING
FOR NORTHERN ALABAMA AND CENTRAL TENNESSEE.

LAT...LON 3428 8645 3426 8646 3426 8649 3422 8653
      3419 8653 3414 8658 3406 8667 3401 8678
      3417 8689 3432 8662 3431 8649
TIME...MOT...LOC 1011Z 238DEG 47KT 3414 8674

$$

JE

1 follow-up statement

000 
WWUS54 KHUN 061031
SVSHUN

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
430 AM CST WED FEB 6 2008

ALC043-061040-
/O.EXP.KHUN.TO.W.0008.000000T0000Z-080206T1030Z/
CULLMAN AL-
430 AM CST WED FEB 6 2008

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR EASTERN CULLMAN COUNTY EXPIRES AT 430 AM
CST...

WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THE TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM
THAT PROMPTED THE WARNING HAD MOVED OUT OF THE COUNTY. THEREFORE THE
TORNADO WARNING HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR CULLMAN COUNTY 
UNTIL 445 AM CST.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 AM CST WEDNESDAY MORNING 
FOR NORTHERN ALABAMA.

LAT...LON 3428 8645 3426 8646 3426 8649 3422 8653
      3419 8653 3414 8658 3406 8667 3401 8678
      3417 8689 3432 8662 3431 8649
TIME...MOT...LOC 1011Z 238DEG 47KT 3414 8674

$$

JE

The office that day

Everything else NWS Huntsville, AL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 6, 2:40 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	Lawrence	50 min
Feb 6, 3:08 AM CST	Tornado Warning Emergency	HUN	Limestone, Morgan	37 min
Feb 6, 3:30 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	Madison	45 min
Feb 6, 3:40 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	Cullman	35 min
Feb 6, 4:14 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Cullman	31 min
Feb 6, 4:15 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Madison	45 min
Feb 6, 4:17 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	Marshall	28 min
Feb 6, 4:43 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson, Marshall	32 min
Feb 6, 4:46 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Cullman	29 min
Feb 6, 4:47 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	Jackson	43 min
Feb 6, 5:04 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson	26 min
Feb 6, 5:26 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson	19 min
Feb 6, 5:29 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson, Marshall	31 min
Feb 6, 6:12 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	HUN	Marshall	3 hr
Feb 6, 6:47 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	HUN	DeKalb	4 hr
Feb 6, 12:51 PM CST	Wind Advisory	HUN	Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale and 5 more	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 2008 Every tornado warning in 2008 Tornadoes in 2008

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.