Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2009
Tornado Watch 40
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 28, 2009, 2:52 AM CST for 21 counties in Alabama. It was in force for 9 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 28, 2009, 2:52 AM CST (08:52 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 28, 2009, 11:49 AM CST
- In force
- 9 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 21 counties
Autauga County, AL, Barbour County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Lee County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pike County, AL, Russell County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:54 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
- 20%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 10%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 50%
Warnings issued inside it
15 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 28, 3:30 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Greene, Hale, Pickens, Tuscaloosa | 45 min |
| Feb 28, 4:10 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Pickens, Sumter and 1 more | 50 min |
| Feb 28, 4:55 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bibb, Chilton, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Perry and 2 more | 50 min |
| Feb 28, 5:34 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga, Chilton, Dallas, Hale, Perry | 41 min |
| Feb 28, 6:11 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga, Chilton, Dallas, Perry | 49 min |
| Feb 28, 6:26 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton, Coosa | 49 min |
| Feb 28, 6:42 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Autauga, Elmore, Lowndes, Macon, Montgomery | 48 min |
| Feb 28, 7:25 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Elmore, Lee, Macon, Tallapoosa | 50 min |
| Feb 28, 7:53 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Lee, Macon, Russell | 52 min |
| Feb 28, 7:59 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chambers, Lee | 46 min |
| Feb 28, 8:48 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | BMX | Lee | 3 hr |
| Feb 28, 8:49 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Russell | 26 min |
| Feb 28, 9:05 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Bullock, Lowndes, Macon, Montgomery | 40 min |
| Feb 28, 9:46 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Russell | 29 min |
| Feb 28, 10:01 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Bullock, Macon, Montgomery | 15 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, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 59 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
- 30 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -66 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 539 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 44 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -133 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 61 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
912
WWUS20 KWNS 280850
SEL0
SPC WW 280850
ALZ000-281500-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 40
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
250 AM CST SAT FEB 28 2009
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL ALABAMA
EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY MORNING FROM 250 AM UNTIL 900 AM CST.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 40 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
TUSCALOOSA ALABAMA TO 50 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF MONTGOMERY
ALABAMA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU0).
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 39...
DISCUSSION...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO SLOWLY
INCREASE IN COVERAGE ACROSS PARTS OF MS/AL AHEAD OF APPROACHING
UPPER TROUGH. A SURFACE BOUNDARY EXTENDS FROM SOUTH OF TUSCALOOSA
TO SOUTH OF MONTGOMERY...AND DEMARKS THE NORTHERN EDGE OF RICHER AND
MORE UNSTABLE AIRMASS. THE REGION ALONG THIS BOUNDARY WILL POSE THE
GREATEST RISK OF SUPERCELLS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES THROUGH MID
MORNING AS IT LIFTS VERY SLOWLY NORTHWARD.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
400. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26035.
...HARTSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 27, 6:38 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chambers and 30 more | 97 min |
| Feb 27, 7:45 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chambers and 28 more | 7 hr |
| Feb 27, 8:48 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Cullman, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence and 4 more | 117 min |
| Feb 27, 10:47 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton and 23 more | 118 min |
| Feb 28, 2:15 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton and 25 more | 90 min |
| Feb 28, 5:40 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bullock, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 17 more | 2 hr |
| Feb 28, 9:49 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 8 more | 86 min |
| Feb 28, 10:39 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Coffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston | 7 hr |
| Feb 28, 3:57 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Lauderdale | 4 hr |
| Feb 28, 5:43 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston | 8 hr |
Nearby
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.