Alert archive / Tennessee / Tornado Watches in 2023

Tornado Watch 61

March 3, 202315 counties in Alabama; 18 counties in Georgia; 38 counties in Tennessee

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 3, 2023, 10:34 AM CST for 15 counties in Alabama; 18 counties in Georgia; 38 counties in Tennessee. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 3, 2023, 10:34 AM CST (16:34 UTC)
Expired: Mar 3, 2023, 4:00 PM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected: 1 in
Strongest gust expected: 70 kt

All 71 counties

Blount County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Jackson County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Bartow County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Catoosa County, GA, Chattooga County, GA, Cherokee County, GA, Dade County, GA, Fannin County, GA, Floyd County, GA, Gilmer County, GA, Gordon County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Heard County, GA, Murray County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Pickens County, GA, Polk County, GA, Walker County, GA, Whitfield County, GA, Anderson County, TN, Bledsoe County, TN, Blount County, TN, Bradley County, TN, Campbell County, TN, Cannon County, TN, Clay County, TN, Coffee County, TN, Cumberland County, TN, DeKalb County, TN, Fentress County, TN, Franklin County, TN, Grundy County, TN, Hamilton County, TN, Jackson County, TN, Knox County, TN, Loudon County, TN, Macon County, TN, Marion County, TN, McMinn County, TN, Meigs County, TN, Monroe County, TN, Moore County, TN, Morgan County, TN, Overton County, TN, Pickett County, TN, Polk County, TN, Putnam County, TN, Rhea County, TN, Roane County, TN, Scott County, TN, Sequatchie County, TN, Smith County, TN, Trousdale County, TN, Union County, TN, Van Buren County, TN, Warren County, TN, White County, TN

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:35 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: 70%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes: 50%
Ten or more severe wind reports: 70%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more: 50%
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: 80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 3, 10:51 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	57 min
Mar 3, 11:09 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	HUN	Lincoln, Moore	21 min
Mar 3, 11:22 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Destructive damage threat	HUN	Cullman, DeKalb, Jackson, Limestone, Madison, Marshall and 1 more	53 min
Mar 3, 11:25 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	HUN	Jackson, Limestone, Madison	65 min
Mar 3, 11:26 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	OHX	Bedford, Cannon, Coffee, Marshall, Rutherford	34 min
Mar 3, 11:31 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Bibb, Blount, Hale, Jefferson, Tuscaloosa	74 min
Mar 3, 11:54 AM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	Jackson, Madison	21 min
Mar 3, 11:56 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	OHX	Bedford, Cannon, Coffee, DeKalb, Rutherford, Warren and 2 more	34 min
Mar 3, 12:05 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Etowah, St. Clair, Shelby	74 min
Mar 3, 12:06 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MRX	Marion	54 min
Mar 3, 12:10 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	Jackson	11 min
Mar 3, 12:14 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson, Marshall	61 min
Mar 3, 12:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	OHX	Clay, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Smith, Trousdale	30 min
Mar 3, 12:18 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Destructive damage threat	HUN	Jackson	46 min
Mar 3, 12:20 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	Jackson	10 min
Mar 3, 12:22 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MRX	Marion	10 min
Mar 3, 12:24 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	OHX	Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Overton, Putnam, Van Buren and 2 more	36 min
Mar 3, 12:28 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Destructive damage threat	FFC	Catoosa, Dade, Walker	62 min
Mar 3, 12:37 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HUN	DeKalb, Jackson	21 min
Mar 3, 12:39 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MRX	Bledsoe, Hamilton, Marion, Sequatchie	66 min
Mar 3, 12:57 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne	45 min
Mar 3, 1:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	OHX	Fentress, Overton, Pickett, Putnam	30 min
Mar 3, 1:05 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	FFC	Chattooga, Floyd, Gordon, Polk, Walker	55 min
Mar 3, 1:07 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MRX	Bledsoe, Bradley, Hamilton, McMinn, Meigs, Rhea	53 min
Mar 3, 1:14 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	HUN	DeKalb	11 min
Mar 3, 1:23 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MRX	Loudon, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, Rhea, Roane	52 min
Mar 3, 1:27 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	FFC	Catoosa, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon, Murray, Walker and 1 more	48 min
Mar 3, 1:33 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MRX	Bradley, McMinn, Monroe, Polk	57 min
Mar 3, 1:44 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Bartow, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Pickens	61 min
Mar 3, 1:51 PM CST	Tornado Warning	FFC	Bartow, Floyd, Gordon	24 min
Mar 3, 1:58 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MRX	Anderson, Blount, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Roane and 2 more	47 min
Mar 3, 2:06 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Bartow, Floyd, Haralson, Paulding, Polk	39 min
Mar 3, 2:11 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MRX	Blount, Loudon, McMinn, Monroe, Polk	48 min
Mar 3, 2:14 PM CST	Tornado Warning	FFC	Bartow, Cherokee, Dawson, Gilmer, Gordon, Pickens	31 min
Mar 3, 2:16 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	FFC	Bartow, Cherokee, Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon and 4 more	44 min
Mar 3, 2:31 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MRX	Monroe	29 min
Mar 3, 2:33 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MRX	Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins and 4 more	42 min
Mar 3, 2:45 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Cobb, Haralson, Paulding and 1 more	45 min
Mar 3, 2:52 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Pickens, Towns and 2 more	38 min
Mar 3, 3:05 PM CST	Tornado Warning	FFC	Cherokee, Forsyth	25 min
Mar 3, 3:06 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Carroll, Douglas, Haralson, Heard	39 min
Mar 3, 3:11 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Cherokee, Cobb, Dawson, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett and 2 more	49 min
Mar 3, 3:31 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Carroll, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Paulding	44 min
Mar 3, 4:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Cherokee, Cobb, Dawson, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett and 1 more	27 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 174 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 594 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 85 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 624 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 822 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 3, 4:01 AM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Colbert, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and 2 more	2 hr
Mar 3, 6:24 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Colbert, Cullman, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale and 7 more	7 hr
Mar 3, 10:15 AM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale and 7 more	3 hr
Mar 3, 12:07 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, DeKalb, Etowah and 3 more	83 min
Mar 3, 1:12 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bartow, Cherokee, Cobb, Dawson, DeKalb, Fannin and 12 more	93 min
Mar 3, 1:41 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Cobb, Dawson, DeKalb and 21 more	5 hr
Mar 3, 3:41 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Dawson and 19 more	94 min
Mar 2, 11:51 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Lauderdale, Shelby, Tipton	8 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2023 Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2023 Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2023 Every tornado watch in 2023

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.