Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2011

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 490

June 17, 201132 counties in Alabama; 14 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jun 17, 2011, 11:42 AM CDT for 32 counties in Alabama; 14 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 17, 2011, 11:42 AM CDT (16:42 UTC)
Expired
Jun 17, 2011, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 46 counties

Autauga County, AL, Barbour County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Butler County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Clay County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Crenshaw 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, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pike County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Russell County, AL, Shelby County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Clarke County, MS, Covington County, MS, Forrest County, MS, Greene County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jones County, MS, Kemper County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Newton County, MS, Perry County, MS, Scott County, MS, Smith County, MS, Wayne County, MS

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 140 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:46 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
5%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
2%
Ten or more severe wind reports
50%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 17, 11:44 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, Shelby46 min
Jun 17, 12:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Chilton, Shelby, Talladega38 min
Jun 17, 12:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMontgomery52 min
Jun 17, 1:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCoosa45 min
Jun 17, 1:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXAutauga, Dallas, Lowndes38 min
Jun 17, 1:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLowndes, Montgomery28 min
Jun 17, 2:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXElmore, Macon, Montgomery39 min
Jun 17, 2:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBButler, Crenshaw46 min
Jun 17, 3:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXLee, Russell21 min
Jun 17, 3:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBConecuh, Monroe, Wilcox35 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, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 140 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 2011-06-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1495 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 2011-06-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1495 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-92 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
688 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
29 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
Jun 17, 9:49 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Coosa, Dallas and 10 more86 min
Jun 17, 2:45 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Crenshaw, Lowndes and 7 more60 min
Jun 16, 8:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcorn, Benton, Prentiss, Tippah, Tishomingo53 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Alabama, 2011Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Mississippi, 2011Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2011

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.