Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2021
Tornado Watch 53
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 25, 2021, 7:47 PM CDT for 24 counties in Alabama. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 25, 2021, 7:47 PM CDT (00:47 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 25, 2021, 10:41 PM CDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 24 counties
Autauga County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Dallas County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lee County, AL, Lowndes County, AL, Macon County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Perry County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL
The radar
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:49 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
- 30%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 10%
- 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
- 50%
Warnings issued inside it
6 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 25, 8:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount, Jefferson, St. Clair | 28 min |
| Mar 25, 8:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Chilton | 42 min |
| Mar 25, 8:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount, Etowah, St. Clair | 25 min |
| Mar 25, 8:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Coosa | 49 min |
| Mar 25, 9:04 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chilton, Coosa | 32 min |
| Mar 25, 9:51 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BMX | Chambers, Clay, Randolph, Tallapoosa | 54 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, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 53 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
- 1313 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -13 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 662 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 68 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 341 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 334 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 3.1
- Supercell composite
- 13.2
The text
As transmitted.
705 WWUS20 KWNS 260043 SEL3 SPC WW 260043 ALZ000-260600- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 53 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 745 PM CDT Thu Mar 25 2021 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of Central Alabama * Effective this Thursday night and Friday morning from 745 PM until 100 AM CDT. * Primary threats include... A few tornadoes and a couple intense tornadoes possible Isolated damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible Isolated large hail events to 1.5 inches in diameter possible SUMMARY...A cluster with embedded supercell structures should progress east-northeast from west-central to east-central Alabama offering a continued threat for a few tornadoes. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 75 statute miles east and west of a line from 25 miles northwest of Anniston AL to 30 miles south of Selma AL. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3). 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 50...WW 51...WW 52... AVIATION...Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to 1.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector 24035. ...Grams
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 25, 7:00 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton and 32 more | 30 min |
| Mar 25, 7:57 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Colbert, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence and 4 more | 3 hr |
| Mar 25, 9:04 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Coosa, Randolph, Tallapoosa | 56 min |
| Mar 25, 10:26 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Coweta, Fayette, Heard | 64 min |
| Mar 25, 11:34 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barrow, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta and 11 more | 56 min |
| Mar 26, 12:55 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Banks, Barrow, Butts, Clarke, Clayton, Coweta and 31 more | 3 hr |
| Mar 26, 3:21 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barrow, Clarke, Clayton, Coweta, DeKalb, Elbert and 11 more | 54 min |
| Mar 26, 12:56 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Bibb, Bleckley, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke and 44 more | 94 min |
Nearby
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.