Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2001

Tornado Watch 655

August 5, 2001Geneva County, Alabama; 16 counties in Florida; Decatur County, Seminole County, Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Aug 5, 2001, 10:45 PM CDT for Geneva County, Alabama; 16 counties in Florida; Decatur County, Seminole County, Georgia. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 5, 2001, 10:45 PM CDT (03:45 UTC)
Expired
Aug 6, 2001, 6:00 AM CDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Geneva County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun 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, Madison County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Decatur County, GA, Seminole County, GA

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 00:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 97 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2001-08-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 763 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2001-08-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 236 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
763 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
471 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
236 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
268 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.

852 
WWUS9 KMKC 060339
SEL5  
MKC WW 060330
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-061100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 655
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1130 PM EDT SUN AUG 5 2001

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

EXTREME SOUTHEAST ALABAMA                            
THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE                            
EXTREME SOUTHWEST GEORGIA                            
ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING FROM 1145 PM UNTIL
700 AM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 45 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF CRESTVIEW FLORIDA
TO 65 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST 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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH
NUMBER 654.  WATCH NUMBER 654 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 1145 PM
EDT.

DISCUSSION...TROPICAL STORM BARRY IS APPROACHING THE FL PANHANDLE
...AND IS FORECAST TO MOVE INLAND OVERNIGHT.  LOCAL VWP WINDS FROM
KTLH AND KEVX BOTH SHOW THAT LOW-LEVEL WINDS/SHEAR HAVE INCREASED
THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS...WITH ESTIMATED 0-1 KM SRH VALUES OF 250-
300 M2/S2.  EXPECT THE TORNADO THREAT TO BE LOCALLY GREATEST WHERE
DISCRETE CELLS E OF THE CENTER INTERACT WITH A WEAK RAIN-COOLED
BOUNDARY THAT SHOULD MOVE NWD OVERNIGHT. 

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH...EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 16030.


...THOMPSON

311,0863 304,0832 292,0832 295,0863

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 6, 4:00 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Coffee, Covington and 11 more6 hr
Aug 6, 10:00 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chambers and 27 more9 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Florida, 2001Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2001Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2001Every tornado watch in 2001

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.