Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2009
Tornado Watch 24
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 18, 2009, 12:42 PM CST for 43 counties in Alabama; 12 counties in Georgia; 21 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 18, 2009, 12:42 PM CST (18:42 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 18, 2009, 8:00 PM CST
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 70 kt
All 76 counties
Autauga County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Colbert County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Cullman County, AL, Dallas County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jackson County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Madison County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Marion County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston 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, Paulding County, GA, Polk County, GA, Walker County, GA, Whitfield County, GA, Attala County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Clarke County, MS, Clay County, MS, Hinds County, MS, Itawamba County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Leake County, MS, Lowndes County, MS, Madison County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Neshoba County, MS, Newton County, MS, Noxubee County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Rankin County, MS, Scott County, MS, Smith County, MS, Winston County, MS
The radar
The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:44 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
- 50%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 30%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 80%
- 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
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
50 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 18, 1:13 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Cullman, Marshall, Morgan | 32 min |
| Feb 18, 1:45 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | Cullman, Marshall, Morgan | 45 min |
| Feb 18, 1:47 PM CST | Tornado Warning | HUN | Marshall | 28 min |
| Feb 18, 2:13 PM CST | Tornado Warning | HUN | DeKalb, Marshall | 32 min |
| Feb 18, 2:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson, St. Clair | 29 min |
| Feb 18, 2:33 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HUN | DeKalb | 27 min |
| Feb 18, 2:39 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Jefferson, St. Clair, Shelby, Talladega | 51 min |
| Feb 18, 2:42 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cherokee | 33 min |
| Feb 18, 2:43 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Bartow, Chattooga, Floyd, Gordon | 52 min |
| Feb 18, 3:12 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, Walker | 24 min |
| Feb 18, 3:19 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene, Hale, Marengo, Sumter | 41 min |
| Feb 18, 3:22 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Randolph, St. Clair, Talladega | 38 min |
| Feb 18, 3:22 PM CST | Tornado Warning | FFC | Bartow, Cherokee | 38 min |
| Feb 18, 3:22 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Kemper, Lauderdale | 14 min |
| Feb 18, 3:53 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount, Jefferson, St. Clair | 37 min |
| Feb 18, 3:55 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Cleburne, Randolph | 35 min |
| Feb 18, 3:57 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Dallas, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Perry, Sumter | 33 min |
| Feb 18, 4:24 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Blount, Calhoun, Cleburne, Etowah, St. Clair, Talladega | 66 min |
| Feb 18, 4:24 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Dallas, Hale, Marengo, Perry | 51 min |
| Feb 18, 4:29 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Rankin, Scott | 46 min |
| Feb 18, 4:42 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Jefferson, Shelby, Tuscaloosa | 33 min |
| Feb 18, 4:52 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Autauga, Dallas, Lowndes, Perry | 38 min |
| Feb 18, 5:06 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Lauderdale, Newton, Scott | 54 min |
| Feb 18, 5:13 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Jefferson, Shelby, Talladega, Tuscaloosa | 47 min |
| Feb 18, 5:22 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Carroll, Haralson | 38 min |
| Feb 18, 5:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Dallas, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Perry, Sumter | 66 min |
| Feb 18, 5:28 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Autauga, Dallas, Elmore, Lowndes, Montgomery | 47 min |
| Feb 18, 5:33 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, St. Clair, Shelby, Talladega | 42 min |
| Feb 18, 5:39 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Greene, Jefferson, Pickens, Shelby, Tuscaloosa | 51 min |
| Feb 18, 5:41 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Etowah | 34 min |
| Feb 18, 5:58 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Clarke, Lauderdale | 47 min |
| Feb 18, 6:03 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene, Pickens, Tuscaloosa | 28 min |
| Feb 18, 6:05 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cleburne | 25 min |
| Feb 18, 6:07 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Haralson, Polk | 38 min |
| Feb 18, 6:10 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Lauderdale | 28 min |
| Feb 18, 6:12 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Clay, Randolph | 33 min |
| Feb 18, 6:13 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jefferson, Shelby, Tuscaloosa | 47 min |
| Feb 18, 6:14 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Bullock, Macon, Montgomery | 46 min |
| Feb 18, 6:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Sumter | 36 min |
| Feb 18, 6:29 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Chilton, Jefferson, Shelby, Talladega, Tuscaloosa | 46 min |
| Feb 18, 6:30 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cleburne | 15 min |
| Feb 18, 6:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Haralson, Paulding | 21 min |
| Feb 18, 6:38 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Clay, Randolph | 37 min |
| Feb 18, 6:41 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Randolph | 19 min |
| Feb 18, 6:45 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Chilton, Shelby, Tuscaloosa | 45 min |
| Feb 18, 6:54 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Clay, Shelby, Talladega | 51 min |
| Feb 18, 7:14 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Randolph | 31 min |
| Feb 18, 7:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Greene, Hale, Tuscaloosa | 44 min |
| Feb 18, 7:33 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Chilton, Clay, Coosa, Shelby, Talladega | 42 min |
| Feb 18, 7:49 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chambers, Clay, Cleburne, Randolph, Talladega, Tallapoosa | 41 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, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 92 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
- 11 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -38 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 526 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 57 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 604 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 698 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 18, 11:14 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Lamar, Lawrence and 6 more | 91 min |
| Feb 18, 1:57 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry and 4 more | 93 min |
| Feb 18, 2:32 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coffee, Dale, Geneva and 6 more | 7 hr |
| Feb 18, 3:22 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee and 42 more | 83 min |
| Feb 18, 4:58 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Covington and 4 more | 92 min |
| Feb 18, 5:26 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Henry, Lee, Macon and 1 more | 94 min |
| Feb 17, 7:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bolivar, Coahoma, DeSoto, Humphreys, Issaquena, Lafayette and 11 more | 6 hr |
| Feb 17, 9:45 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alcorn, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Coahoma and 16 more | 2 hr |
| Feb 18, 1:22 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Amite, Copiah, Covington, Forrest, Franklin and 19 more | 53 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2009Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2009Tornado Watches in Georgia, 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.