Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 739

November 6, 20029 counties in Florida; 15 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 6, 2002, 3:30 AM EST for 9 counties in Florida; 15 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Nov 6, 2002, 3:30 AM EST (08:30 UTC)
Expired: Nov 6, 2002, 9:00 AM EST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 24 counties

Baker County, FL, Columbia County, FL, Dixie County, FL, Hamilton County, FL, Lafayette County, FL, Madison County, FL, Nassau County, FL, Suwannee County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Brantley County, GA, Bryan County, GA, Camden County, GA, Charlton County, GA, Chatham County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Echols County, GA, Glynn County, GA, Liberty County, GA, Long County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, McIntosh County, GA, Pierce County, GA, Ware County, GA, Wayne County, GA

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 6, 3:51 AM EST	Tornado Warning	JAX	Appling, Bacon, Pierce, Ware	6 days
Nov 6, 4:17 AM EST	Tornado Warning	JAX	Pierce	6 days
Nov 6, 4:17 AM EST	Tornado Warning	JAX	Appling, Pierce, Wayne	6 days
Nov 6, 4:44 AM EST	Tornado Warning	CHS	Long	46 min
Nov 6, 4:45 AM EST	Tornado Warning	JAX	Hamilton	6 days
Nov 6, 5:10 AM EST	Tornado Warning	CHS	Liberty, McIntosh	35 min

The nearest sounding before it

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 00:00Z, 8.5 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-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: 508 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 888 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 191 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 284 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.8
Supercell composite: 2.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 060831
SEL9  
SPC WW 060830
FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-061400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 739
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
330 AM EST WED NOV 6 2002

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

   NORTHERN FLORIDA                            
   SOUTHEAST GEORGIA                            
   COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 330 AM UNTIL 900 AM EST.

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

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 35 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF
A LINE FROM 70 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF VALDOSTA GEORGIA TO 25
MILES SOUTHEAST OF SAVANNAH 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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH
NUMBER 738.  WATCH NUMBER 738 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 330 AM
EST.

DISCUSSION...STRONG DEEP LAYER SHEAR CONTINUES ACROSS THE AREA WITH
ALONG WITH THE INFLUX OF VERY MOIST AND MARGINALLY UNSTABLE FROM
OFF THE GULF WILL MAINTAIN THREAT FOR SMALL SUPERCELLS...ISOLATED
TORNADOES FOR NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.   


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXTREME
TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI
WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.  MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24040.


...HALES

301,0840 321,0811 312,0803 292,0832

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 5, 10:25 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Columbia, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Madison and 3 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2002 Tornado Watches in Florida, 2002 Every tornado watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.