Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 11

January 8, 19974 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 8, 1997, 9:00 PM CST for 4 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jan 8, 1997, 9:00 PM CST (03:00 UTC)
Expired: Jan 9, 1997, 3:00 AM CST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 40 counties

Baldwin County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Dale County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Houston County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Washington County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Escambia County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Baker County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Early County, GA, Grady County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Thomas County, GA, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Wayne County, MS

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 8, 11:54 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MOB	Santa Rosa	66 min
Jan 9, 12:53 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MOB	Okaloosa	67 min

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 247 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: 499 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 177 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 188 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

906 
WWUS9 KMKC 090235
SEL1  
MKC WW 090235
MSZ000-ALZ000-GAZ000-FLZ000-090900-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 11
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY MO
835 PM CST WED JAN 8 1997

A...THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR

   A SMALL PART OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI                        
   PARTS OF SOUTHERN ALABAMA                            
   EXTREME SOUTHWEST GEORGIA                            
   THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND PARTS OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA           
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING UNTIL 300 AM
CST.

TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND DAMAGING
THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.


THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF
A LINE FROM 40 MILES WEST OF MOBILE ALABAMA TO 35 MILES EAST OF
TALAHASSEE FLORIDA.

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.

B..OTHER WATCH INFORMATION.. THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 10.  WATCH NUMBER 10 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 900
PM CST.
$$

C...TORNADOES AND A FEW SVR TSTMS WITH HAIL SFC AND ALF TO 1 1/2
INCHES.  EXTRM TURBC AND SFC WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CBS
WITH MAX TOPS TO 450.  MEAN WIND VECTOR 23035.

D...WRMFNT LIFTING NWD ACRS THE FL PNHDL HAS ALLOWED FOR AMS
DESTABILIZATION DURG THE PAST HR. CDFNT NOW MOVG ACRS SE LA/SRN MS
WL CONT MOVG EWD. POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR A FEW SVR TSTMS IN WRM
SECTOR. GIVEN STRENGTH OF LOW-MID LVL SHEAR ISOLD SUPERCELLS WL BE
PSBL.

E...OTR TSTMS... THIS WATCH REPLACES..WW 10.. CONT..WW 1170..

...VESCIO

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 9, 3:00 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Alachua, Baker, Bay, Calhoun, Columbia, Dixie and 16 more	6 hr
Jan 9, 3:00 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Charlotte, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Highlands, Lee and 5 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Florida, 1997 Tornado Watches in Alabama, 1997 Tornado Watches in Georgia, 1997 Every tornado watch in 1997

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.