Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2020

Tornado Watch 25

February 5, 202024 counties in Alabama; 14 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 5, 2020, 11:48 PM CST for 24 counties in Alabama; 14 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Feb 5, 2020, 11:48 PM CST (05:48 UTC)
Expired
Feb 6, 2020, 8:00 AM CST
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 38 counties

Autauga County, AL, Baldwin County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Choctaw County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Perry County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Washington County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Clarke County, MS, Covington County, MS, Forrest County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Jasper County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Jones County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lauderdale County, MS, Marion County, MS, Perry County, MS, Stone County, MS, Wayne County, MS

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:47 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
30%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
20%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

26 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 6, 12:00 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCovington, Jasper, Jones60 min
Feb 6, 12:47 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Hale, Perry42 min
Feb 6, 12:47 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANClarke, Lauderdale58 min
Feb 6, 12:54 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningJANKemper, Lauderdale3 hr
Feb 6, 1:07 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBChoctaw38 min
Feb 6, 1:19 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXMarengo, Sumter56 min
Feb 6, 1:56 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Hale64 min
Feb 6, 1:59 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXShelby20 min
Feb 6, 2:11 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningJANClarke78 min
Feb 6, 2:23 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXJefferson, St. Clair, Shelby52 min
Feb 6, 2:35 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXBibb, Hale, Perry40 min
Feb 6, 2:35 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningMOBChoctaw6 hr
Feb 6, 2:35 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBWilcox9 min
Feb 6, 2:50 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXDallas25 min
Feb 6, 2:53 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun, Etowah, St. Clair39 min
Feb 6, 2:58 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXGreene, Hale, Marengo, Sumter47 min
Feb 6, 3:12 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Jefferson, Shelby51 min
Feb 6, 3:22 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXCherokee26 min
Feb 6, 3:31 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBibb, Perry42 min
Feb 6, 3:35 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXJefferson, St. Clair, Shelby3 hr
Feb 6, 3:43 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBClarke, Wilcox47 min
Feb 6, 3:50 AM CSTTornado WarningMOBClarke, Wilcox40 min
Feb 6, 4:02 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBGreene, Perry, Wayne43 min
Feb 6, 4:41 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXClay, Cleburne, Randolph12 min
Feb 6, 5:38 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay, Coosa, Talladega32 min
Feb 6, 6:32 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXCalhoun, Chilton, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Randolph and 3 more3 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

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 00:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 167 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jackson, MS at 00:00Z on 2020-02-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 847 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Jackson, MS at 00:00Z on 2020-02-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 298 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
847 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-69 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
592 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
298 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
390 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.9
Supercell composite
10.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 5, 6:33 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCJackson, Limestone, Madison117 min
Feb 5, 9:43 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChoctaw, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Perry, Pickens and 2 more2 hr
Feb 5, 11:15 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Greene and 9 more2 hr
Feb 6, 2:02 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Coffee and 18 more88 min
Feb 6, 3:27 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers and 20 more9 hr
Feb 6, 4:33 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChilton, Clarke, Dallas, Monroe, Perry, Washington and 1 more87 min
Feb 6, 6:40 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChambers, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Elmore, Randolph and 2 more95 min
Feb 6, 10:00 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw and 9 more2 hr
Feb 6, 11:17 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCCoffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston8 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2020Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2020Every tornado watch in 2020

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.