Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2000

Tornado Watch 812

December 16, 20008 counties in Alabama; 14 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 16, 2000, 2:30 PM CST for 8 counties in Alabama; 14 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Dec 16, 2000, 2:30 PM CST (20:30 UTC)
Expired: Dec 16, 2000, 6:00 PM CST
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 22 counties

Calhoun County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Bartow County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Catoosa County, GA, Chattooga County, GA, Dade County, GA, Floyd County, GA, Gordon County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Heard County, GA, Murray County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Polk County, GA, Walker County, GA, Whitfield County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:32 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.

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 16, 2:50 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	40 min
Dec 16, 2:57 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	DeKalb	33 min
Dec 16, 3:16 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Calhoun	29 min
Dec 16, 3:20 PM CST	Tornado Warning	FFC	Chattooga	25 min
Dec 16, 3:24 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Calhoun, Cleburne	36 min
Dec 16, 3:45 PM CST	Tornado Warning	FFC	Haralson, Polk	30 min
Dec 16, 4:23 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	St. Clair, Talladega	37 min
Dec 16, 4:34 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Calhoun	41 min
Dec 16, 5:03 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cherokee	27 min
Dec 16, 5:24 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	DeKalb	51 min
Dec 16, 5:33 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Floyd	27 min

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 118 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: 2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 385 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 290 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 315 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.

451 
WWUS9 KMKC 162028
SEL2  

SEL2  
MKC WW 162017
ALZ000-GAZ000-170000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 812
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
217 PM CST SAT DEC 16 2000

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   NORTHEAST ALABAMA                            
   NORTHWEST GEORGIA                            

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 230 PM UNTIL 600
PM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 40 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF ANNISTON ALABAMA TO 45
MILES NORTH OF ROME GEORGIA.

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 808...WW 809...WW
810...WW 811...

DISCUSSION...BOUNDARY LAYER AIR MASS RECOVERY WILL CONTINUE NEXT
SEVERAL HOURS ACROSS NE AL/NW GA...AS WEDGE FRONT EDGES FARTHER N. 
GIVEN LONG HODOGRAPHS /ON THE ORDER OF 60 KTS/...PRESENCE OF
DISCRETE SUPERCELLS UPSTREAM...STRONG PRESSURE FALLS AND BACKED
LOW-LEVEL FLOW INVOF BOUNDARY...THREAT FOR ADDITIONAL TORNADOES
APPEARS GREAT ENOUGH TO WARRANT NEWD EXTENSION OF EXISTING AL/GA
TORNADO WATCHES.     

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23045.

...CORFIDI

350,0842 331,0845 331,0862 350,0855

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 16, 10:15 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw and 37 more	6 hr
Dec 16, 10:45 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coffee, Coosa, Covington and 12 more	5 hr
Dec 16, 1:30 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Baldwin, Mobile	6 hr
Dec 16, 4:00 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers and 38 more	6 hr
Dec 16, 4:00 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coffee, Dale, Geneva and 6 more	6 hr
Dec 16, 5:45 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Brooks, Decatur	4 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2000 Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2000 Every tornado watch in 2000

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.