Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 278
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 8, 2008, 12:40 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 8, 2008, 12:40 PM CDT (17:40 UTC)
- Expired
- May 8, 2008, 6:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 71 counties
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, Cullman County, AL, Dallas County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jackson County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Madison County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Bartow County, GA, Catoosa County, GA, Chattooga County, GA, Dade County, GA, Floyd County, GA, Gordon County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Murray County, GA, Polk County, GA, Walker County, GA, Whitfield County, GA, Clarke County, MS, Covington County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jones County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Newton County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Scott County, MS, Smith County, MS, Wayne County, MS, Bledsoe County, TN, Bradley County, TN, Franklin County, TN, Hamilton County, TN, Lincoln County, TN, Marion County, TN, McMinn County, TN, Meigs County, TN, Monroe County, TN, Moore County, TN, Polk County, TN, Rhea County, TN, Sequatchie County, TN
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:43 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.
What SPC expected
The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.
- Two or more tornadoes
- 60%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 30%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 70%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 40%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 70%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 30%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 90%
Warnings issued inside it
24 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 12:43 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HUN | Franklin, Lawrence | 47 min |
| May 8, 12:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette, Lamar, Marion, Walker, Winston | 38 min |
| May 8, 1:03 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HUN | Lauderdale, Limestone | 27 min |
| May 8, 1:05 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette, Marion, Walker, Winston | 55 min |
| May 8, 1:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette, Lamar, Pickens, Tuscaloosa | 47 min |
| May 8, 1:23 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HUN | Lawrence, Limestone, Morgan | 37 min |
| May 8, 1:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Fayette, Walker | 53 min |
| May 8, 1:44 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette, Jefferson, Pickens, Tuscaloosa, Walker | 31 min |
| May 8, 1:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Kemper, Noxubee | 18 min |
| May 8, 1:59 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Walker, Winston | 16 min |
| May 8, 2:08 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HUN | Cullman | 52 min |
| May 8, 2:13 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Fayette, Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, Walker | 47 min |
| May 8, 2:17 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Blount, Jefferson, Walker | 49 min |
| May 8, 2:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Limestone, Madison, Morgan | 33 min |
| May 8, 2:41 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HUN | Madison | 21 min |
| May 8, 2:54 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HUN | Cullman, Marshall, Morgan | 36 min |
| May 8, 2:58 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson, Shelby | 47 min |
| May 8, 3:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson, Shelby, Tuscaloosa | 60 min |
| May 8, 3:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Blount, Etowah | 45 min |
| May 8, 3:25 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HUN | Jackson, Marshall | 32 min |
| May 8, 3:37 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson, St. Clair, Shelby | 23 min |
| May 8, 3:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Jefferson, Shelby, Tuscaloosa | 46 min |
| May 8, 4:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb | 49 min |
| May 8, 4:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay, Cleburne, Talladega | 32 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 12:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 78 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 212 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -132 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 567 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 63 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 193 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 216 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 2.1
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 7:48 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lawrence, Marion and 3 more | 87 min |
| May 8, 8:04 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Colbert, Cullman, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale and 9 more | 6 hr |
| May 8, 10:07 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton and 33 more | 83 min |
| May 8, 12:13 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bibb, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Perry and 4 more | 92 min |
| May 8, 12:37 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Blount, Cherokee, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Jackson and 7 more | 83 min |
| May 8, 3:13 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton and 17 more | 2 hr |
| May 7, 10:28 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams | 92 min |
| May 7, 11:49 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Covington, Franklin and 25 more | 116 min |
| May 8, 1:22 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Johnson and 4 more | 83 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2008Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2008Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2008Every tornado watch 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.