Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2019
Tornado Watch 2
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 19, 2019, 9:43 AM CST for 31 counties in Alabama; 5 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jan 19, 2019, 9:43 AM CST (15:43 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 19, 2019, 4:57 PM CST
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 36 counties
Autauga County, AL, Baldwin County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Butler County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Clay County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Perry County, MS, Stone County, MS, Wayne County, MS
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:43 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
- 50%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 40%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 20%
- 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
14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 19, 9:43 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Greene, Sumter | 35 min |
| Jan 19, 10:13 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Greene, Tuscaloosa | 13 min |
| Jan 19, 10:36 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Greene | 17 min |
| Jan 19, 10:38 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Wayne | 52 min |
| Jan 19, 10:49 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Choctaw | 41 min |
| Jan 19, 10:51 AM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Jefferson, Tuscaloosa | 17 min |
| Jan 19, 10:53 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Greene, Perry, Wayne | 52 min |
| Jan 19, 11:20 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | George, Greene, Perry, Stone | 40 min |
| Jan 19, 11:31 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Choctaw, Clarke, Washington | 44 min |
| Jan 19, 12:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Clarke, Washington, Wilcox | 45 min |
| Jan 19, 1:46 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Autauga, Dallas, Lowndes | 44 min |
| Jan 19, 2:27 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Autauga, Coosa, Elmore, Tallapoosa | 48 min |
| Jan 19, 2:44 PM CST | Tornado Warning | BMX | Elmore, Montgomery | 46 min |
| Jan 19, 3:14 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Butler, Crenshaw | 30 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, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 125 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
- 15 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -76 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 531 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 43 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 313 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 340 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
The text
As transmitted.
828 WWUS20 KWNS 191540 SEL2 SPC WW 191540 ALZ000-FLZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-192300- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 2 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 940 AM CST Sat Jan 19 2019 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of Central and southwestern Alabama The western Florida Panhandle The eastern part of the Mississippi Sound Coastal Waters * Effective this Saturday morning and afternoon from 940 AM until 500 PM CST. * Primary threats include... A few tornadoes possible Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible SUMMARY...A broken band of storms will spread eastward from Mississippi to Alabama through the afternoon. Embedded supercells and bowing segments will be capable of producing a few tornadoes and damaging gusts. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 70 statute miles east and west of a line from 60 miles north of Selma AL to 10 miles south southwest of Mobile AL. 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 1... 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 400. Mean storm motion vector 25040. ...Thompson
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 19, 9:08 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bibb, Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Greene, Hale and 7 more | 2 hr |
| Jan 19, 11:37 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw and 19 more | 83 min |
| Jan 19, 3:21 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coffee, Dale, Geneva and 7 more | 6 hr |
| Jan 19, 5:38 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw and 10 more | 97 min |
| Jan 19, 1:24 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Claiborne, Issaquena, Jefferson, Sharkey, Warren | 2 hr |
| Jan 19, 5:04 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Clarke, Copiah, Covington and 28 more | 116 min |
| Jan 19, 5:23 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Amite, Attala, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clarke and 36 more | 8 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2019Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2019Every tornado watch in 2019
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.