Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2015
Tornado Watch 552
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 18, 2015, 8:25 AM CST for 28 counties in Alabama; 10 counties in Florida. It was in force for 8 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Nov 18, 2015, 8:25 AM CST (14:25 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 18, 2015, 4:00 PM CST
- In force
- 8 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 38 counties
Autauga County, AL, Baldwin County, AL, Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Butler County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Lee County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pike County, AL, Russell County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Escambia County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL
The radar
The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:28 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.
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
- 10%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 60%
Warnings issued inside it
14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 18, 9:09 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Okaloosa | 51 min |
| Nov 18, 10:45 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Okaloosa | 30 min |
| Nov 18, 10:45 AM CST | Tornado Warning | TAE | Walton | 45 min |
| Nov 18, 10:57 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 48 min |
| Nov 18, 11:21 AM CST | Tornado Warning | TAE | Walton | 39 min |
| Nov 18, 11:26 AM CST | Tornado Warning | TAE | Coffee | 49 min |
| Nov 18, 11:41 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Okaloosa | 30 min |
| Nov 18, 12:00 PM CST | Tornado Warning | TAE | Walton | 45 min |
| Nov 18, 12:49 PM CST | Tornado Warning | TAE | Geneva | 26 min |
| Nov 18, 1:01 PM CST | Tornado Warning | TAE | Coffee | 44 min |
| Nov 18, 1:15 PM CST | Tornado Warning | TAE | Walton | 45 min |
| Nov 18, 2:01 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Dale | 44 min |
| Nov 18, 2:08 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Holmes, Walton, Washington | 52 min |
| Nov 18, 3:09 PM CST | Tornado Warning | TAE | Franklin, Gulf | 51 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, 2.4 hours before the alert went out and 215 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 19 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -274 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 931 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 475 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 594 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
591 WWUS20 KWNS 181422 SEL2 SPC WW 181422 ALZ000-FLZ000-CWZ000-182200- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 552 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 825 AM CST WED NOV 18 2015 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL ALABAMA WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE COASTAL WATERS * EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 825 AM UNTIL 400 PM CST. * PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE... A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE SUMMARY...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY INTENSIFY TODAY WHILE SPREADING EAST ACROSS THE WATCH AREA. THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF A COUPLE TORNADOES AND DAMAGING OUTFLOW WINDS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF CRESTVIEW FLORIDA TO 30 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF MONTGOMERY ALABAMA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2). PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... 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 551... 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 21035. ...MEAD
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 18, 1:14 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Choctaw, Clarke, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Lamar and 8 more | 2 hr |
| Nov 18, 2:49 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Greene, Hale, Marengo and 4 more | 6 hr |
| Nov 18, 5:21 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Fayette, Greene and 9 more | 114 min |
| Nov 18, 7:22 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Clarke and 14 more | 83 min |
| Nov 18, 10:51 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Coffee and 17 more | 114 min |
| Nov 18, 1:39 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Geneva and 3 more | 2 hr |
| Nov 18, 2:16 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston | 6 hr |
| Nov 18, 5:35 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and 1 more | 115 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2015Tornado Watches in Florida, 2015Every tornado watch 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.