Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2017
Tornado Watch 116
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 3, 2017, 7:06 AM CDT for 12 counties in Alabama; 10 counties in Florida. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 3, 2017, 7:06 AM CDT (12:06 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 3, 2017, 1:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 22 counties
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, Monroe 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), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:10 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
- 30%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 5%
- 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
18 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 7:26 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Baldwin, Butler, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile and 2 more | 49 min |
| Apr 3, 8:09 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Baldwin, Conecuh, Covington, Escambia, Mobile | 51 min |
| Apr 3, 8:26 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Butler, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Escambia | 64 min |
| Apr 3, 8:54 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Crenshaw | 13 min |
| Apr 3, 9:00 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Baldwin, Escambia, Mobile | 60 min |
| Apr 3, 9:01 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Houston | 59 min |
| Apr 3, 9:36 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Conecuh, Covington | 39 min |
| Apr 3, 9:43 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Escambia, Santa Rosa | 62 min |
| Apr 3, 9:48 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | TAE | Dale | 27 min |
| Apr 3, 9:54 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Dale, Henry | 66 min |
| Apr 3, 9:59 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Houston | 61 min |
| Apr 3, 9:59 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Okaloosa | 31 min |
| Apr 3, 10:14 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Okaloosa, Santa Rosa | 46 min |
| Apr 3, 10:46 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Escambia, Santa Rosa | 45 min |
| Apr 3, 10:51 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Dale, Geneva, Houston | 39 min |
| Apr 3, 11:00 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Okaloosa, Santa Rosa | 31 min |
| Apr 3, 11:03 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Bay, Holmes, Walton, Washington | 42 min |
| Apr 3, 11:28 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Henry, Houston | 47 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
Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 231 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
- 1400 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -14 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 580 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 136 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 248 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.5
- Supercell composite
- 9.3
The text
As transmitted.
497 WWUS20 KWNS 031203 SEL6 SPC WW 031203 ALZ000-FLZ000-CWZ000-031800- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 116 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 705 AM CDT Mon Apr 3 2017 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of Southeast Alabama The Florida Panhandle Coastal Waters * Effective this Monday morning and afternoon from 705 AM until 100 PM CDT. * Primary threats include... A couple tornadoes possible Isolated damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible SUMMARY...A squall line over southwest Alabama will continue moving to the east through midday. Bowing segments in the line will be capable of producing occasional damaging gusts, while a tornado or two will be possible with circulations embedded within the line. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 75 statute miles east and west of a line from 50 miles northwest of Dothan AL to 55 miles south southeast of Pensacola FL. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU6). 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 114...WW 115... 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 28025. ...Thompson
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 1:48 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Mobile, Washington | 10 hr |
| Apr 3, 1:51 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne and 6 more | 114 min |
| Apr 3, 3:59 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw and 17 more | 2 hr |
| Apr 3, 4:25 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton and 14 more | 7 hr |
| Apr 3, 6:43 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Butler, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 9 more | 2 hr |
| Apr 3, 7:45 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coosa, Elmore, Lee and 6 more | 90 min |
| Apr 3, 9:25 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee and 1 more | 65 min |
| Apr 3, 12:32 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Calhoun, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jefferson and 6 more | 6 hr |
| Apr 3, 2:21 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jefferson and 5 more | 54 min |
| Apr 3, 5:57 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval and 17 more | 93 min |
| Apr 3, 9:07 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bibb, Bleckley, Bulloch and 54 more | 83 min |
| Apr 3, 9:50 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Baker, Baldwin, Barrow, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb and 92 more | 7 hr |
| Apr 3, 12:42 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Appling, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Columbia and 24 more | 63 min |
| Apr 3, 1:07 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baldwin, Bleckley, Bryan and 45 more | 6 hr |
| Apr 3, 5:41 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Chatham, McIntosh | 64 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2017Tornado Watches in Florida, 2017Every tornado watch in 2017
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.