Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2009

Tornado Watch 173

April 19, 200949 counties in Alabama; 15 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 19, 2009, 2:19 PM CDT for 49 counties in Alabama; 15 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 19, 2009, 2:19 PM CDT (19:19 UTC)
Expired
Apr 19, 2009, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 64 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, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lee County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Marion County, AL, Mobile 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, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Winston County, AL, Clarke County, MS, Forrest County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jones County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Perry County, MS, Stone County, MS, Wayne County, MS

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 165 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:19 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
30%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
20%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 19, 2:36 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBClarke, Washington39 min
Apr 19, 2:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Lamar38 min
Apr 19, 2:41 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXFayette26 min
Apr 19, 3:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Pickens, Tuscaloosa39 min
Apr 19, 3:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Pickens, Sumter, Tuscaloosa39 min
Apr 19, 4:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Jefferson, Shelby, Tuscaloosa28 min
Apr 19, 4:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Sumter46 min
Apr 19, 4:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLamar, Marion60 min
Apr 19, 4:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Jefferson, Tuscaloosa38 min
Apr 19, 4:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMonroe48 min
Apr 19, 5:04 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBibb, Jefferson, Shelby, Tuscaloosa24 min
Apr 19, 5:20 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBChoctaw, Clarke, Washington40 min
Apr 19, 5:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Lamar, Marion, Walker, Winston63 min
Apr 19, 5:39 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Perry51 min
Apr 19, 5:39 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBClarke40 min
Apr 19, 6:04 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBClarke15 min
Apr 19, 6:12 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBibb, Perry63 min
Apr 19, 6:17 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXShelby43 min
Apr 19, 6:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBClarke27 min
Apr 19, 6:24 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBibb, Shelby, Talladega51 min
Apr 19, 6:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXWinston26 min
Apr 19, 6:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Lamar, Marion, Walker, Winston48 min
Apr 19, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBButler41 min
Apr 19, 6:44 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBClarke, Monroe46 min
Apr 19, 6:52 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBibb, Chilton, Dallas, Perry53 min
Apr 19, 6:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLowndes, Montgomery48 min
Apr 19, 7:00 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXShelby60 min
Apr 19, 7:05 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXSt. Clair, Shelby, Talladega55 min
Apr 19, 7:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBConecuh, Monroe35 min
Apr 19, 7:28 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXGreene, Hale47 min
Apr 19, 7:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay, Cleburne, Randolph42 min
Apr 19, 7:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXFayette, Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, Walker52 min
Apr 19, 7:44 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXAutauga, Chilton, Coosa, Elmore46 min
Apr 19, 7:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Randolph, Talladega43 min
Apr 19, 7:47 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXJefferson, Walker17 min
Apr 19, 7:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount, Etowah, Jefferson, Walker38 min
Apr 19, 7:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBConecuh35 min
Apr 19, 8:10 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBibb, Hale, Perry65 min
Apr 19, 8:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Cleburne, Talladega47 min
Apr 19, 8:21 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCoosa, Tallapoosa37 min
Apr 19, 8:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount, Cherokee, Etowah, Jefferson, St. Clair, Tuscaloosa and 1 more52 min
Apr 19, 8:48 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXBullock, Macon42 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, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 165 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 12:00Z on 2009-04-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 2009-04-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 109 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2056 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
109 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 19, 12:43 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Fayette, Greene, Hale and 9 more3 hr
Apr 19, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCColbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale and 5 more5 hr
Apr 19, 4:46 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Bibb, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh and 20 more89 min
Apr 19, 6:51 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chilton, Clarke and 19 more54 min
Apr 19, 12:14 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCoahoma, DeSoto, Tunica61 min
Apr 19, 1:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Coahoma, DeSoto and 16 more6 hr
Apr 19, 2:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcorn, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Coahoma and 15 more53 min
Apr 19, 3:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Coahoma, DeSoto and 13 more56 min
Apr 19, 5:47 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcorn, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lee, Monroe and 5 more58 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2009Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2009Every tornado watch in 2009

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.