Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Watches in 2012

Tornado Watch 591

August 28, 20124 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Aug 28, 2012, 9:46 AM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 9 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 28, 2012, 9:46 AM CDT (14:46 UTC)
Expired
Aug 28, 2012, 6:48 PM CDT
In force
9 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 37 counties

Baldwin County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Washington County, AL, Bay County, FL, Escambia County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Jefferson Parish, LA, Lafourche Parish, LA, Orleans Parish, LA, Plaquemines Parish, LA, Saint Bernard Parish, LA, Saint Charles Parish, LA, Saint John the Baptist Parish, LA, Saint Tammany Parish, LA, Tangipahoa Parish, LA, Terrebonne Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Perry County, MS, Pike County, MS, Stone County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Wayne County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:46 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
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
5%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
5%
Ten or more severe hail reports
5%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
20%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 28, 11:52 AM CDTTornado WarningLIXOrleans, Saint Tammany23 min
Aug 28, 4:45 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin30 min
Aug 28, 5:09 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBSanta Rosa51 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

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 121 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 2012-08-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 41 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Slidell Radar S, LA at 12:00Z on 2012-08-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 272 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
41 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-110 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
650 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
272 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
266 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.

079 
WWUS20 KWNS 281448
SEL1
SPC WW 281448
ALZ000-FLZ000-LAZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-290000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 591
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
945 AM CDT TUE AUG 28 2012

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

       SOUTHWEST ALABAMA
       WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE
       SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA
       FAR SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY MORNING AND EVENING FROM 945 AM UNTIL 700
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 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 55 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES WEST OF NEW ORLEANS
LOUISIANA TO 20 MILES EAST OF PANAMA CITY FLORIDA.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).

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...A SLOW INCREASE IN CONVECTION HAS BEEN NOTED THIS
MORNING ON OUTER PERIPHERY OF ISAAC WHERE BREAKS IN THE CLOUDS ARE
SUPPORTING AIR MASS DESTABILIZATION.  THIS TREND SHOULD CONTINUE
THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE MORNING AND THIS AFTERNOON WITH AN
INCREASED RISK FOR MINI SUPERCELLS AND AN ASSOCIATED TORNADO THREAT.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 11040.


...MEAD

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 28, 7:01 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Escambia and 4 more2 hr
Aug 28, 12:37 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Escambia, Mobile, Washington83 min
Aug 28, 3:46 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Clarke, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, Washington89 min
Aug 28, 5:48 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Conecuh, Covington, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe and 1 more87 min
Aug 28, 6:47 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile and 2 more21 hr
Aug 28, 12:56 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCCovington, Forrest, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lamar, Lawrence and 2 more6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2012Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2012Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2012Every tornado 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.