Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 796

December 19, 200210 counties in Alabama; 15 counties in Florida; 31 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 19, 2002, 7:20 PM CST for 10 counties in Alabama; 15 counties in Florida; 31 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Dec 19, 2002, 7:20 PM CST (01:20 UTC)
Expired: Dec 20, 2002, 12:00 AM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 56 counties

Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Pike 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, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Baker County, GA, Ben Hill County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Clay County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Crisp County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Grady County, GA, Irwin County, GA, Lee County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Telfair County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Tift County, GA, Turner County, GA, Webster County, GA, Wheeler County, GA, Wilcox County, GA, Worth County, GA

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 143 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 963 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 260 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 302 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.

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 200126
SEL6  
SPC WW 200120
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-200600-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 796
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
720 PM CST THU DEC 19 2002

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

   SOUTHEAST ALABAMA                            
   THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE                           
   SOUTHWEST GEORGIA                            
   COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING FROM 720 PM UNTIL
MIDNIGHT CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 60 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 105 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF PANAMA CITY FLORIDA TO
45 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF ALBANY 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 795.  WATCH NUMBER 795 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 720 PM
CST.

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS/SUPERCELLS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE MOVING
NEWD ALONG COLD FRONT NOW PASSING PNS...AND ALONG CONFLUENCE BAND
FARTHER E NEAR PAM.  LOW LEVEL FLOW OFF THE NRN PART OF THE FL
PENINSULA EXPECTED TO LIMIT BOUNDARY LAYER AIR MASS RECOVERY INTO
S CNTRL GA...BUT COMBINATION OF STRONG /30-40 KT/ LOW LEVEL SHEAR
AND MODEST SURFACE-BASED INSTABILITY /SBCAPE ON THE ORDER OF 500
J/KG/ EXPECTED TO MAINTAIN THREAT FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES FARTHER W
ACROSS THE FL PENINSULA AND SE AL. 

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH...EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 50 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 400. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23045.

...CORFIDI

320,0824 292,0841 292,0874 320,0861

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2002 Tornado Watches in Florida, 2002 Tornado Watches in Alabama, 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.