Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2015

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 1, NWS Huntsville, AL

January 3, 2015Colbert County, Franklin County, Lawrence County, Alabama

NWS Huntsville, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 3, 2015, 5:27 PM CST for Colbert County, Franklin County, Lawrence County, Alabama. It was in force for 33 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 3, 2015, 5:27 PM CST (23:27 UTC)
Expired
Jan 3, 2015, 6:00 PM CST
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Huntsville, AL
Area
Storm-based polygon

Counties Colbert County, AL, Franklin County, AL, Lawrence County, AL

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:28 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2015-01-03Temperature 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2015-01-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 266 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
471 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
266 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
377 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Huntsville, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jan 3, 2:41 PM CST, 2 hours 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 3, 2:41 PM CST, 2 hours 46 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 3, 12:08 PM CST, 5 hours 19 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
1208 PM CST SAT JAN 3 2015

ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-041200-
LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN-
MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN-
1208 PM CST SAT JAN 3 2015

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS
OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT...

A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT...BRINGING A THREAT
FOR STRONG TO ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...HEAVY RAIN...AND GUSTY
WINDS TO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY.

WHILE A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON...THE MAIN
SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL OCCUR JUST AHEAD OF THE FRONT THIS EVENING
AND TONIGHT. A FEW STORMS MAY BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS
APPROACHING SEVERE LIMITS.

HEAVY RAIN WILL BE A CONCERN FOR THE ENTIRE REGION. RAINFALL AMOUNTS
OF 1 TO 2 INCHES WILL BE COMMON...WHICH WILL COMBINE WITH SATURATED
SOILS TO PRODUCE A FLASH FLOOD THREAT. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN
EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING UNTIL SUNDAY MORNING.

IN ADDITION...WIND GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE TODAY AND
TONIGHT EVEN OUTSIDE OF THUNDERSTORMS. GUSTS WILL BE MOST PRONOUNCED
ON RIDGETOPS ABOVE 1200 FEET.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...

AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT WILL BRING A SHARPLY COLDER AIR MASS TO THE
TENNESSEE VALLEY TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. A PROLONGED PERIOD OF
SUBFREEZING TEMPERATURES IS POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...WITH
LOW TEMPERATURES APPROACHING THE SINGLE DIGITS...AND WIND CHILLS
POSSIBLY FALLING BELOW ZERO.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

FORMAL ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...TIMELY
REPORTS OF FLASH FLOODING OR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE GREATLY
APPRECIATED.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Huntsville, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 3, 3:56 AM CSTFlash Flood WatchHUNColbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale and 5 more23 hr
Jan 3, 5:55 PM CSTSpecial Weather StatementHUNFranklin, Lawrence50 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Alabama, 2015Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2015

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.