Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Watches in 2022

Tornado Watch 6

January 1, 202219 counties in Alabama

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 1, 2022, 3:52 PM CST for 19 counties in Alabama. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jan 1, 2022, 3:52 PM CST (21:52 UTC)
Expired
Jan 1, 2022, 10:00 PM CST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Cullman County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Marion County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:53 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
40%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
10%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 1, 6:35 PM CSTTornado WarningBMXLamar11 min
Jan 1, 6:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNLawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, Morgan50 min
Jan 1, 8:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHUNDeKalb, Jackson50 min
Jan 1, 8:38 PM CSTTornado WarningHUNDeKalb, Jackson26 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, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 65 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 12:00Z on 2022-01-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 316 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2022-01-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 228 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
316 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
704 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
228 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
210 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 1, 12:38 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison and 1 more97 min
Jan 1, 12:56 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCColbert, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and 2 more6 hr
Jan 1, 1:57 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison93 min
Jan 1, 3:27 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and 2 more93 min
Jan 1, 5:53 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDeKalb, Jackson, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marshall and 1 more67 min
Jan 1, 11:37 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAttala, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw and 27 more113 min
Jan 1, 1:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCAlcorn, Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll and 44 more9 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2022Every tornado watch in 2022

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.