Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 773

December 9, 200216 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 9, 2002, 10:20 PM EST for 16 counties in Florida. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Dec 9, 2002, 10:20 PM EST (03:20 UTC)
Expired: Dec 10, 2002, 5:00 AM EST
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Broward County, FL, Charlotte County, FL, Collier County, FL, DeSoto County, FL, Glades County, FL, Hardee County, FL, Hendry County, FL, Highlands County, FL, Indian River County, FL, Lee County, FL, Martin County, FL, Miami-Dade County, FL, Monroe County, FL, Okeechobee County, FL, Palm Beach County, FL, Saint Lucie County, FL

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 10, 1:17 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MFL	Miami-Dade, Monroe	28 min

The nearest sounding before it

Miami, FL (KMFL), launched 00:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 115 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: 562 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 686 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 105 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 366 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 2.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 100323
SEL3  
SPC WW 100320
FLZ000-CWZ000-101000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 773
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1020 PM EST MON DEC 9 2002

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

   SOUTHERN FLORIDA                            
   COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING FROM 1020 PM UNTIL
500 AM EST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH 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 EITHER SIDE
OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES SOUTH OF FORT MEYERS FLORIDA TO 50 MILES
NORTH NORTHEAST OF MIAMI 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.


DISCUSSION...CONVECTION WILL CONTINUE INCREASING ACROSS SRN FL
OVERNIGHT AHEAD OF APPROACHING MID/UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE TROUGH. 
THOUGH LAPSE RATES WILL LIMIT INSTABILITY...A VERY RICH BOUNDARY
LAYER AND STRONG LOW LEVEL SHEAR WILL ENHANCE THE THREAT OF
ROTATION AND A FEW TORNADOES.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH...EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 400. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23030.


...EVANS

250,0793 243,0812 272,0822 275,0802

Nearby

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.