Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2016
Tornado Watch 22
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 23, 2016, 5:53 PM CST for 27 counties in Alabama. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 23, 2016, 5:53 PM CST (23:53 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 24, 2016, 12:00 AM CST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 65 kt
All 27 counties
Autauga County, AL, Barbour County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Clay County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Lee County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Pike County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Russell County, AL, Shelby County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:54 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
- 70%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 40%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 60%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 20%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 90%
Warnings issued inside it
4 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 23, 6:25 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Sumter | 50 min |
| Feb 23, 6:50 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Marengo | 55 min |
| Feb 23, 7:39 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Dallas, Perry | 66 min |
| Feb 23, 8:45 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Autauga, Dallas, Lowndes | 34 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, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 57 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 546 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 99 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 147 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
885
WWUS20 KWNS 232351
SEL2
SPC WW 232351
ALZ000-240600-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 22
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
555 PM CST TUE FEB 23 2016
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL ALABAMA
* EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON FROM 555 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT
CST.
* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
A FEW TORNADOES LIKELY WITH A COUPLE INTENSE TORNADOES POSSIBLE
SCATTERED DAMAGING WINDS LIKELY WITH ISOLATED SIGNIFICANT GUSTS
TO 75 MPH POSSIBLE
ISOLATED LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE
SUMMARY...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN MS WILL TRACK RAPIDLY
EASTWARD INTO CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AL THIS EVENING. THE ENVIRONMENT
IS QUITE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE STORMS CAPABLE OF DAMAGING WINDS AND A
FEW TORNADOES.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 55 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
TUSCALOOSA ALABAMA TO 20 MILES EAST OF AUBURN 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 20...WW 21...
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 65 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23040.
...HARTSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 23, 1:15 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia and 5 more | 2 hr |
| Feb 23, 2:13 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Covington and 6 more | 8 hr |
| Feb 23, 4:29 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw and 3 more | 61 min |
| Feb 23, 5:18 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Choctaw, Clarke, Monroe, Washington, Wilcox | 117 min |
| Feb 23, 5:35 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Chilton, Clay, Coosa, Dallas and 9 more | 115 min |
Nearby
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.