Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2012

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 576

August 13, 20124 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Aug 13, 2012, 12:38 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 13, 2012, 12:38 PM CDT (17:38 UTC)
Expired
Aug 13, 2012, 4:42 PM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 45 counties

Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Cullman County, AL, Dallas County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Etowah 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, Morgan County, AL, Perry County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Catoosa County, GA, Chattooga County, GA, Dade County, GA, Floyd County, GA, Walker County, GA, Wayne County, MS, Bledsoe County, TN, Coffee County, TN, Franklin County, TN, Grundy County, TN, Hamilton County, TN, Lincoln County, TN, Marion County, TN, Moore County, TN, Rhea County, TN, Sequatchie County, TN, Van Buren County, TN, Warren County, TN

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:39 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
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
5%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 13, 12:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNLawrence, Limestone, Madison, Morgan32 min
Aug 13, 12:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNLincoln28 min
Aug 13, 1:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNLimestone, Madison, Morgan33 min
Aug 13, 1:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNJackson, Madison, Marshall, Morgan21 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, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 83 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 2012-08-13Temperature 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 2012-08-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 100 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1302 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
100 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
115 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
Aug 13, 12:21 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton and 22 more24 min
Aug 13, 3:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCleburne56 min
Aug 13, 7:48 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAttala, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Choctaw, Clay and 20 more87 min
Aug 13, 3:15 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Bolivar, Carroll, Coahoma, DeSoto, Grenada and 12 more30 min
Aug 13, 3:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlcorn, Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll and 26 more7 hr
Aug 13, 5:14 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcorn, Attala, Benton, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw and 20 more91 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Alabama, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Tennessee, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Georgia, 2012Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2012

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.