Tornado Watch 2

Issued

Jan 20, 2012, 10:35 PM CST (04:35 UTC)

Expired

Jan 21, 2012, 6:38 AM CST

In force

8 hr

Issued by

the Storm Prediction Center

Largest hail expected

1 in

Strongest gust expected

60 kt

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:36 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.

Two or more tornadoes

30%

One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes

20%

Ten or more severe wind reports

30%

One or more gusts of 65 knots or more

20%

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

60%

• Mesoscale Discussion 35Jan 20, 10:02 PM CST
• Mesoscale Discussion 37Jan 21, 1:52 AM CST
• Mesoscale Discussion 39Jan 21, 4:20 AM CST

732 
WWUS20 KWNS 210437
SEL2
SPC WW 210437
ALZ000-MSZ000-TNZ000-211100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 2
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1035 PM CST FRI JAN 20 2012

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

       NORTHERN ALABAMA
       NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI
       SOUTHWEST AND MIDDLE TENNESSEE

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING FROM 1035 PM
UNTIL 500 AM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 65 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 70 MILES NORTHWEST OF
GREENWOOD MISSISSIPPI TO 75 MILES NORTHEAST OF HUNTSVILLE
ALABAMA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).

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.

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS ARE BEGINNING TO DEVELOP ALONG A FRONT
ACROSS TN.  STORM COVERAGE/INTENSITY ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE AND
STORMS WILL SPREAD EWD/SEWD OVERNIGHT AS A WEAK LOW DEVELOPS ACROSS
TN...AND A MIDLEVEL TROUGH MOVES EWD FROM OK/AR/MO.  THE WARM SECTOR
S OF THE FRONT IS WEAKLY UNSTABLE WITH LOW-LEVEL AND DEEP-LAYER
VERTICAL SHEAR THAT IS FAVORABLE FOR EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS AND BOWING
SEGMENTS.  DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN SEVERE THREAT
OVERNIGHT...BUT A TORNADO OR TWO MAY OCCUR IN THE MOIST/STRONGLY
SHEARED ENVIRONMENT...AND MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL WILL ALSO BE
POSSIBLE.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26040.


...THOMPSON

Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2012Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2012Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2012Every tornado watch in 2012

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.