Alert archive / Alabama / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2021

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 67

March 28, 202118 counties in Alabama; 17 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Mar 28, 2021, 5:10 AM CDT for 18 counties in Alabama; 17 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 28, 2021, 5:10 AM CDT (10:10 UTC)
Expired
Mar 28, 2021, 10:00 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
55 kt
All 35 counties

Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Bartow County, GA, Catoosa County, GA, Chattooga County, GA, Cherokee County, GA, Dade County, GA, Dawson County, GA, Fannin County, GA, Floyd County, GA, Gilmer County, GA, Gordon County, GA, Lumpkin County, GA, Murray County, GA, Pickens County, GA, Polk County, GA, Union County, GA, Walker County, GA, Whitfield County, GA

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:11 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
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
2%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 28, 6:13 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBlount, Jefferson, Walker62 min
Mar 28, 6:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCChattooga, Floyd, Walker25 min
Mar 28, 7:13 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXJefferson, St. Clair, Shelby32 min
Mar 28, 7:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, St. Clair, Talladega38 min
Mar 28, 7:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby40 min
Mar 28, 8:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBartow, Floyd, Gordon40 min
Mar 28, 8:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBartow, Floyd, Polk31 min
Mar 28, 8:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCFannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Towns, Union28 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 00:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 112 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, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2021-03-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 643 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2021-03-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 126 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
643 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1359 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
152 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
3.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

739 
WWUS20 KWNS 281007
SEL7  
SPC WW 281007
ALZ000-GAZ000-281500-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 67
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
610 AM EDT Sun Mar 28 2021

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of 
  North-central/Northeast Alabama
  Northern Georgia

* Effective this Sunday morning from 610 AM until 1100 AM EDT.

* Primary threats include...
  Isolated damaging wind gusts to 65 mph possible
  A tornado or two possible

SUMMARY...A broken cluster of storms will continue eastward through
the pre-dawn/early morning hours across north-central/northeast
Alabama into northwest/far northern Georgia. Isolated damaging winds
are the primary concern, but a brief tornado embedded within the
convective line cannot be ruled out.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 30
statute miles north and south of a line from 20 miles north
northwest of Tuscaloosa AL to 75 miles east northeast of Rome GA.
For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch
outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
favorable for 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. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
tornadoes.

&&

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 65...WW 66...

AVIATION...A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to
1 inch. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 55 knots. A few
cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 450. Mean storm motion vector
24030.

...Guyer

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 27, 10:45 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison and 3 more90 min
Mar 27, 11:27 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBlount, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Fayette, Franklin and 11 more8 hr
Mar 28, 1:25 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCJackson2 hr
Mar 28, 1:57 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Fayette and 11 more93 min
Mar 28, 4:56 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Marshall, Walker94 min
Mar 28, 7:29 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalhoun, Cleburne, Talladega91 min
Mar 28, 9:14 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Chambers, Chilton, Clay, Coosa, Dallas and 6 more61 min
Mar 28, 11:38 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Bibb, Bleckley, Burke, Butts, Columbia and 34 more3 hr
Mar 28, 4:51 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien and 46 more54 min
Mar 28, 2:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCherokee, Clay, Graham, Macon, Swain6 hr
Mar 28, 2:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Craven, Cumberland and 26 more4 hr
Mar 28, 3:53 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Craven, Currituck and 13 more67 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Alabama, 2021Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Georgia, 2021Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2021

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.