Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 612

July 1, 200322 counties in Alabama; 13 counties in Florida; 66 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 1, 2003, 9:40 AM CDT for 22 counties in Alabama; 13 counties in Florida; 66 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 1, 2003, 9:40 AM CDT (14:40 UTC)
Expired
Jul 1, 2003, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 101 counties

Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Lee County, AL, Macon County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Pike County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Russell County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Baker County, GA, Bibb County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Butts County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Clay County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Crawford County, GA, Crisp County, GA, Decatur County, GA, DeKalb County, GA, Dooly County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Douglas County, GA, Early County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Fulton County, GA, Grady County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Harris County, GA, Heard County, GA, Henry County, GA, Houston County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Jones County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lee County, GA, Macon County, GA, Marion County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Morgan County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Newton County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pike County, GA, Pulaski County, GA, Putnam County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Schley County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Tift County, GA, Troup County, GA, Turner County, GA, Twiggs County, GA, Upson County, GA, Walton County, GA, Webster County, GA, Worth County, GA

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 1, 2:54 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFFCFulton2 hr
Jul 1, 2:58 PM CDTTornado WarningFFCJasper17 min
Jul 1, 3:03 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEDecatur, Grady27 min
Jul 1, 3:23 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFFCDeKalb2 hr

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 2.7 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2003-07-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1717 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2003-07-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 157 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1717 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
588 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
157 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
217 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
6.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 011440
SEL2  
SPC WW 011440
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-012100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 612 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
1040 AM EDT TUE JUL 1 2003

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

       EASTERN ALABAMA
       FLORIDA PANHANDLE
       WESTERN GEORGIA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 1040 AM UNTIL
500 PM EDT.

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

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 85 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF ATLANTA GEORGIA TO
APALACHICOLA 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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 611. WATCH NUMBER 611 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER
1040 AM EDT. 


DISCUSSION...SURFACE CIRCULATION CENTER S OF TCL WILL CONTINUE ENEWD
INTO NRN GA LATER THIS AFTERNOON.  SHEAR PROFILES ARE STRONGLY
VEERING AHEAD OF THE BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING AHEAD OF LOW
ACROSS ERN AL INTO WRN GA.  WITH UNSTABLE TROPICAL AIRMASS SPREADING
NWD ACROSS GA AHEAD OF LOW AND SOME SURFACE HEATING...TORNADO
POTENTIAL WITH SMALL SUPERCELLS ALONG/AHEAD OF THUNDERSTORM  BAND
EXPECTED TO INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXTREME
TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI
WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 21035.


...HALES

335,0831 294,0833 294,0862 335,0861

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 30, 7:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCoffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston and 1 more113 min
Jun 30, 9:40 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Covington and 5 more5 hr
Jul 1, 1:25 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler and 41 more9 hr
Jul 1, 4:26 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler and 41 more2 hr
Jul 1, 7:28 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers, Clay, Cleburne and 15 more62 min
Jul 1, 12:57 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Chambers, Henry, Lee, Macon and 3 more2 hr
Jul 1, 2:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Chambers, Cleburne, Henry, Houston, Lee and 2 more116 min
Jul 1, 3:05 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBay, Calhoun, Columbia, Gadsden, Hamilton, Jackson and 6 more6 hr
Jul 1, 4:26 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBryan, Chatham, Effingham, Liberty94 min
Jul 1, 5:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBryan, Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Chatham, Columbia and 21 more4 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2003Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2003Tornado Watches in Florida, 2003Every tornado watch in 2003

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.