Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2013

Tornado Watch 98

April 11, 201312 counties in Alabama; Escambia County, Okaloosa County, Santa Rosa County, Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 11, 2013, 1:30 PM CDT for 12 counties in Alabama; Escambia County, Okaloosa County, Santa Rosa County, Florida. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 11, 2013, 1:30 PM CDT (18:30 UTC)
Expired
Apr 11, 2013, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Baldwin County, AL, Butler County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Escambia County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 94 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:30 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
50%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
60%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
95%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 11, 1:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBChoctaw64 min
Apr 11, 2:16 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBChoctaw44 min
Apr 11, 2:18 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBWashington42 min
Apr 11, 2:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBChoctaw, Clarke39 min
Apr 11, 2:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWashington31 min
Apr 11, 5:27 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMOBClarke6 hr
Apr 11, 5:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBMobile33 min
Apr 11, 5:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin, Mobile32 min
Apr 11, 6:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin, Escambia24 min
Apr 11, 7:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBOkaloosa, Santa Rosa62 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, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 218 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 2013-04-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 35 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 2013-04-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 143 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
35 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-291 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
635 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
143 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
169 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.

894 
WWUS20 KWNS 111829
SEL8  
SPC WW 111829
ALZ000-FLZ000-CWZ000-120100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 98
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
130 PM CDT THU APR 11 2013

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

       SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA
       THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 130 PM UNTIL
800 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 70 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES NORTH OF EVERGREEN
ALABAMA TO 35 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF MOBILE ALABAMA.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU8).

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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 95...WW 96...WW 97...

DISCUSSION...A LINE OF SEVERE STORMS ALONG THE COLD FRONT IN SRN MS
WILL MOVE EWD INTO SW AL BY ABOUT 20Z...WHILE OTHER PRE-FRONTAL
SHOWERS OVER S CENTRAL AL POTENTIALLY DEVELOP INTO THUNDERSTORMS. 
VERTICAL SHEAR AND INSTABILITY ARE FAVORABLE FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE
LINE OF STORMS...AS WELL AS PRE-FRONTAL SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT.  A
FEW TORNADOES...DAMAGING WINDS...AND ISOLATED LARGE HAIL ARE ALL
POSSIBLE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25035.


...THOMPSON

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 11, 10:41 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Cullman, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hale and 12 more2 hr
Apr 11, 11:56 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Colbert, Coosa and 31 more7 hr
Apr 11, 12:59 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Covington and 5 more91 min
Apr 11, 2:21 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Coosa, Cullman and 12 more84 min
Apr 11, 3:26 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChambers, Cleburne, Lee, Randolph, Russell94 min
Apr 11, 3:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBarbour, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay and 9 more6 hr
Apr 11, 5:03 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCoffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston2 hr
Apr 11, 5:35 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Butler, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Escambia and 2 more115 min
Apr 11, 5:54 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay and 11 more96 min
Apr 10, 8:28 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBenton, Coahoma, DeSoto, Lafayette, Marshall, Panola and 5 more7 hr
Apr 10, 9:14 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Claiborne, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Leflore and 5 more2 hr
Apr 10, 11:08 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDeSoto, Marshall, Panola, Tate, Tunica97 min
Apr 11, 6:55 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Covington, Forrest and 28 more65 min
Apr 11, 8:00 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAmite, Clarke, Copiah, Covington, Forrest, George and 24 more8 hr
Apr 11, 12:53 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCForrest, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson and 4 more82 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2013Tornado Watches in Florida, 2013Every tornado watch in 2013

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.