Alert archive / Tennessee / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2012

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 671

October 17, 2012Colbert County, Franklin County, Lauderdale County, Alabama; 20 counties in Tennessee

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Oct 17, 2012, 8:43 PM CDT for Colbert County, Franklin County, Lauderdale County, Alabama; 20 counties in Tennessee. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Oct 17, 2012, 8:43 PM CDT (01:43 UTC)
Expired
Oct 18, 2012, 12:36 AM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
50 kt
All 23 counties

Colbert County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Benton County, TN, Carroll County, TN, Cheatham County, TN, Chester County, TN, Decatur County, TN, Dickson County, TN, Hardin County, TN, Henderson County, TN, Henry County, TN, Hickman County, TN, Houston County, TN, Humphreys County, TN, Lawrence County, TN, Lewis County, TN, McNairy County, TN, Montgomery County, TN, Perry County, TN, Robertson County, TN, Stewart County, TN, Wayne County, TN

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 137 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:46 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
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
2%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
5%
Ten or more severe hail reports
10%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
50%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 17, 9:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGChester, Hardeman, McNairy39 min
Oct 17, 10:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEGDecatur, Hardin, McNairy64 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 173 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 2012-10-18Temperature 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 2012-10-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 169 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
1963 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
169 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
300 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

524 
WWUS20 KWNS 180146
SEL1
SPC WW 180146
ALZ000-TNZ000-180800-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 671
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
845 PM CDT WED OCT 17 2012

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

       NORTHWEST ALABAMA
       WEST AND WESTERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM 845 PM
UNTIL 300 AM CDT.

HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 60
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60
STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES WEST
NORTHWEST OF FORT CAMPBELL KENTUCKY TO 40 MILES EAST OF OXFORD
MISSISSIPPI.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR 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. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY
DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 667...WW 668...WW
669...WW 670...

DISCUSSION...SQLN CROSSING THE MS RIVER EXPECTED TO CONTINUE EWD
INTO LEE UNSTABLE LOW-LVL ENVIRONMENT OVER THE LWR TN VLY. STRENGTH
OF LARGE SCALE FORCING FOR ASCENT AND CURRENT WIND FIELD SUGGEST A
CONTINUED RISK FOR LOCALLY DMGG WIND EWD BEYOND WW 667 IN PARTS OF
WRN TN THROUGH LATE EVE.

AVIATION...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 50 KNOTS.
A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. MEAN STORM MOTION
VECTOR 25045.


...CORFIDI

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 17, 11:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton, Coosa and 24 more95 min
Oct 18, 1:09 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChoctaw, Clarke, Mobile, Monroe, Washington96 min
Oct 18, 2:40 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChoctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Marengo, Monroe and 2 more65 min
Oct 17, 7:35 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBallard, Carlisle, Fulton, Hickman85 min
Oct 17, 7:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCaldwell, Calloway, Christian, Crittenden, Daviess, Henderson and 10 more75 min
Oct 17, 8:07 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalloway53 min
Oct 18, 2:07 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCPike83 min
Oct 17, 7:01 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdams, Attala, Bolivar, Carroll, Choctaw, Claiborne and 35 more8 hr
Oct 17, 8:23 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lafayette and 8 more5 hr
Oct 17, 9:28 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcorn, Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll and 42 more92 min
Oct 17, 11:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAttala, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Claiborne and 31 more86 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Tennessee, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Alabama, 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.