Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2017
Tornado Watch 497
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 7, 2017, 7:05 PM CDT for 7 counties in Alabama; Escambia County, Okaloosa County, Santa Rosa County, Florida; George County, Greene County, Jackson County, Mississippi. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Oct 7, 2017, 7:05 PM CDT (00:05 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 8, 2017, 2:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Baldwin County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Washington County, AL, Escambia County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Jackson County, MS
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:06 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
- 20%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 5%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 5%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 50%
Warnings issued inside it
13 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 7, 7:28 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Baldwin, Mobile, Washington | 47 min |
| Oct 7, 7:28 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Baldwin, Mobile | 32 min |
| Oct 7, 8:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Washington | 20 min |
| Oct 7, 9:13 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 32 min |
| Oct 7, 9:27 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 48 min |
| Oct 7, 9:43 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 32 min |
| Oct 7, 9:52 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MOB | Baldwin | 6 hr |
| Oct 7, 9:56 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MOB | George, Greene, Perry, Stone | 6 hr |
| Oct 7, 11:01 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MOB | Baldwin, Clarke, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, Washington | 6 hr |
| Oct 7, 11:46 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MOB | Baldwin, Conecuh, Escambia, Monroe | 6 hr |
| Oct 8, 12:58 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Okaloosa | 32 min |
| Oct 8, 1:18 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MOB | Okaloosa | 27 min |
| Oct 8, 1:31 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MOB | Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Monroe, Washington, Wilcox | 6 hr |
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 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 188 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
- 601 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 12 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -81 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -6 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
013 WWUS20 KWNS 080002 SEL7 SPC WW 080002 ALZ000-FLZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-080700- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 497 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 705 PM CDT Sat Oct 7 2017 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of Southern Alabama Western Florida Panhandle Southeast Mississippi Coastal Waters * Effective this Saturday night and Sunday morning from 705 PM until 200 AM CDT. * Primary threats include... A couple tornadoes possible Isolated damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible SUMMARY...As the center of Hurricane Nate moves northward, shear profiles and the risk of isolated tornadoes will increase across the watch area. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 55 statute miles north and south of a line from 35 miles west of Mobile AL to 10 miles southeast of Crestview FL. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7). 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 0.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector 15035. ...Hart
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 1:13 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 12 more | 92 min |
| Oct 8, 1:41 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Coffee, Conecuh and 13 more | 8 hr |
| Oct 8, 9:04 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Coffee, Conecuh and 13 more | 86 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2017Tornado Watches in Florida, 2017Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 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.