Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 765

November 12, 200214 counties in Florida; 29 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 12, 2002, 1:40 AM CST for 14 counties in Florida; 29 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Nov 12, 2002, 1:40 AM CST (07:40 UTC)
Expired: Nov 12, 2002, 7:00 AM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 43 counties

Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Columbia County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Hamilton County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Lafayette County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Madison County, FL, Suwannee County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Atkinson County, GA, Bacon County, GA, Baker County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Brantley County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Charlton County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Coffee County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Echols County, GA, Grady County, GA, Irwin County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Pierce County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Tift County, GA, Ware County, GA, Wayne County, GA, Worth 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 12, 2:47 AM CST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Miller, Seminole	42 days
Nov 12, 5:08 AM CST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Colquitt, Mitchell	42 days
Nov 12, 5:08 AM CST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Mitchell	42 days
Nov 12, 6:25 AM CST	Tornado Warning	JAX	Atkinson, Coffee	7 hr
Nov 12, 6:27 AM CST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Berrien	42 days
Nov 12, 7:00 AM CST	Tornado Warning	JAX	Bacon, Coffee, Jeff Davis	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 00:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 23 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: 2589 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 524 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 97 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 152 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.5
Supercell composite: 6.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 120740
SEL5  
SPC WW 120740
FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-121300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 765
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
240 AM EST TUE NOV 12 2002

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

   NORTHERN FLORIDA                            
   SOUTHERN GEORGIA                            
   COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY MORNING FROM 240 AM UNTIL 800 AM EST.

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 100 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES SOUTH OF TALLAHASSEE FLORIDA TO 55 MILES
NORTHEAST OF MOULTRIE 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.


DISCUSSION...CONVECTION WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE ACROSS THE REGION
OVERNIGHT...AS 850 MB LLJ OVERRIDES THE WARM SECTOR.  COMBINATION
OF MODERATE INSTABILITY...LOW CLOUD BASES...AND STRONG LOW LEVEL
SHEAR SUGGEST A FEW TORNADIC SUPERCELLS CAN BE EXPECTED.


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 24035.


...EVANS

295,0860 313,0845 313,0812 295,0824

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 12, 6:30 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Hamilton and 6 more	5 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.