Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 35, NWS Jacksonville, FL

December 24, 2002Duval County, Florida

NWS Jacksonville, FL issued this tornado warning at Dec 24, 2002, 12:53 PM EST for Duval County, Florida. It was in force for 22 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Dec 24, 2002, 12:53 PM EST (17:53 UTC)
Expired: Dec 24, 2002, 1:15 PM EST
In force: 22 min
Issued by: NWS Jacksonville, FL
Area: Whole counties

County Duval County, FL

The radar

The Jacksonville radar (KJAX), 17 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:55 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 was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Dec 24, 1:06 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Countywide, FL	Trees and power lines down across the county. Reports of large trees down in Dupont, San Jose, Baymeadows. 12 inch in diameter oak tree down on house in Jacksonville west side. Reports both from Skywarn Spotters and media.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Dec 24, 9:20 AM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 12:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 19 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: 101 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -110 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 495 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 251 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 285 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS52 KJAX 241753
TORJAX
FLC031-241815-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
1251 PM EST TUE DEC 24 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSONVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  DUVAL COUNTY IN NORTHEAST FLORIDA

* UNTIL 115 PM EST

* AT 1240 PM EST A SKYWARN WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTED A FUNNEL
  CLOUD NEAR WILSON BLVD AND LANE AVE.  A LINE SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM 2 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LITTLE 
  TALBOT ISLAND TO 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NORMANDY...OR ALONG A
  LINE EXTENDING FROM 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF TALBOT ISLAND TO 9 
  MILES WEST OF ORANGE PARK...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THE STORM THROUGH 115 PM EST...
  UNF AND MAYPORT...
  NEPTUNE BEACH AND MANDARIN...
  BAYARD...

PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A BUILDING OR STRUCTURE WHICH WILL
PROVIDE ADEQUATE PROTECTION. MOBILE HOMES AND TRAILERS DO NOT PROVIDE
ADEQUATE PROTECTION FROM A SEVERE STORM.

$$

SANDRIK

The office that day

Everything else NWS Jacksonville, FL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 24, 9:56 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAX		49 min
Dec 24, 10:04 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAX		56 min
Dec 24, 10:21 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAX		54 min
Dec 24, 11:05 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAX		40 min
Dec 24, 11:25 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAX		50 min
Dec 24, 11:45 AM EST	Special Marine Warning	JAX		3 hr
Dec 24, 11:58 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAX		47 min
Dec 24, 12:28 PM EST	Tornado Warning	JAX	Suwannee	92 min
Dec 24, 12:35 PM EST	Flash Flood Warning	JAX	Suwannee	115 min
Dec 24, 12:55 PM EST	Tornado Warning	JAX	Suwannee	50 min
Dec 24, 12:59 PM EST	Tornado Warning	JAX	Alachua, Bradford	46 min
Dec 24, 1:01 PM EST	Tornado Warning	JAX	Columbia, Union	59 min
Dec 24, 1:12 PM EST	Tornado Warning	JAX	Clay	48 min
Dec 24, 1:55 PM EST	Special Marine Warning	JAX		2 hr
Dec 24, 4:46 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAX		44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes in 2002

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.