Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2016
Tornado Watch 54
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 24, 2016, 12:18 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 24, 2016, 12:18 PM CDT (17:18 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 24, 2016, 7:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 23 counties
Baldwin County, AL, Butler County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Bay County, FL, Escambia County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Plaquemines Parish, LA, Jackson County, MS
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:19 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
- 40%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 5%
- 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
15 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 24, 12:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Baldwin, Mobile | 45 min |
| Mar 24, 1:01 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MOB | Mobile | 3 hr |
| Mar 24, 1:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Baldwin, Escambia | 44 min |
| Mar 24, 1:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 49 min |
| Mar 24, 1:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Baldwin, Butler, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Escambia and 1 more | 59 min |
| Mar 24, 2:05 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Conecuh, Covington | 25 min |
| Mar 24, 2:23 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Butler, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw | 23 min |
| Mar 24, 2:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Butler, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw | 44 min |
| Mar 24, 2:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa | 64 min |
| Mar 24, 2:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Coffee | 23 min |
| Mar 24, 3:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Crenshaw | 33 min |
| Mar 24, 3:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Coffee, Dale, Houston | 34 min |
| Mar 24, 3:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Walton | 28 min |
| Mar 24, 3:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Dale, Henry | 36 min |
| Mar 24, 4:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Henry | 21 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
Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 214 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
- 844 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -16 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 511 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 214 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 350 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.6
- Supercell composite
- 4.4
The text
As transmitted.
120 WWUS20 KWNS 241715 SEL4 SPC WW 241715 ALZ000-FLZ000-LAZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-250000- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 54 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 1215 PM CDT THU MAR 24 2016 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ALABAMA WESTERN AND CENTRAL PARTS OF THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE FAR SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA FAR SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI COASTAL WATERS * EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1215 PM UNTIL 700 PM CDT. * PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE... A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE SCATTERED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE SUMMARY...THUNDERSTORMS NOW OVER FAR SE LA AND MS EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY STRENGTHEN AND MOVE/DEVELOP GENERALLY E THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE DAY...WITH SOME RISK FOR DAMAGING WIND AND A COUPLE TORNADOES. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 85 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF EVERGREEN ALABAMA TO 55 MILES EAST OF BOOTHVILLE LOUISIANA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU4). 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. && AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035. ...CORFIDI
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 24, 11:26 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw and 22 more | 3 hr |
| Mar 24, 2:58 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Geneva and 3 more | 2 hr |
| Mar 24, 3:36 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brevard, Broward, Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Osceola and 3 more | 2 hr |
| Mar 24, 4:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Calhoun, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jefferson and 6 more | 5 hr |
| Mar 24, 7:53 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana and 13 more | 3 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2016Tornado Watches in Florida, 2016Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2016Every tornado watch in 2016
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.