Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2014

Tornado Watch 118

April 29, 201433 counties in Alabama; Franklin County, Lincoln County, Moore County, Tennessee

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 29, 2014, 3:56 PM CDT for 33 counties in Alabama; Franklin County, Lincoln County, Moore County, Tennessee. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 29, 2014, 3:56 PM CDT (20:56 UTC)
Expired
Apr 29, 2014, 8:19 PM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 36 counties

Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Colbert County, AL, Cullman County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jackson County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lauderdale County, AL, Lawrence County, AL, Limestone County, AL, Madison County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Marion County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL, Franklin County, TN, Lincoln County, TN, Moore County, TN

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:00 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
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 29, 6:30 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHUNColbert, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone90 min
Apr 29, 6:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNLimestone, Madison34 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, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 100 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 2014-04-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 22 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 2014-04-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 3 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
22 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-219 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1562 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
80 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 28, 7:12 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Cullman, Fayette, Franklin, Jackson, Lamar and 10 more93 min
Apr 28, 7:59 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock and 51 more11 hr
Apr 28, 9:34 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton and 23 more86 min
Apr 28, 10:53 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Blount, Etowah, Jefferson, Marshall, St. Clair and 2 more97 min
Apr 28, 11:20 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton and 21 more85 min
Apr 29, 1:38 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Coffee and 18 more67 min
Apr 29, 1:56 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCCoffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston9 hr
Apr 29, 4:01 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Chambers, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston and 3 more89 min
Apr 29, 12:46 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Mobile, Washington10 hr
Apr 29, 3:27 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Blount, Choctaw, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb and 20 more33 min
Apr 29, 3:58 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClarke, Conecuh, Covington, Escambia, Monroe92 min
Apr 29, 6:01 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChoctaw, Washington89 min
Apr 29, 6:55 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah and 17 more95 min
Apr 28, 9:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Campbell, Claiborne, Grainger, Morgan, Scott and 1 more65 min
Apr 28, 11:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBlount, Bradley, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen and 10 more7 hr
Apr 29, 2:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCannon, Cheatham, Clay, Davidson, DeKalb, Jackson and 8 more65 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2014Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2014Every tornado watch in 2014

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.