Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 2

January 26, 200413 counties in Alabama; 11 counties in Florida; 18 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 26, 2004, 4:15 AM CST for 13 counties in Alabama; 11 counties in Florida; 18 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jan 26, 2004, 4:15 AM CST (10:15 UTC)
Expired
Jan 26, 2004, 10:00 AM CST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 42 counties

Baldwin County, AL, Barbour County, AL, Butler County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Pike County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Escambia County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Baker County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Clay County, GA, Crisp County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Grady County, GA, Lee County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Turner County, GA, Wilcox County, GA, Worth County, GA

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 26, 4:48 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBEscambia27 min
Jan 26, 5:16 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBEscambia44 min
Jan 26, 5:40 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXPike35 min
Jan 26, 5:51 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBBaldwin39 min
Jan 26, 5:57 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOBConecuh, Covington48 min
Jan 26, 6:11 AM CSTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin49 min
Jan 26, 8:35 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEGeneva40 min

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 00:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 208 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 00:00Z on 2004-01-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 5 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2004-01-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 333 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-50 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
547 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
333 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
433 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.

494 
WWUS20 KWNS 261021
SEL2  
SPC WW 261015
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-261600-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 2
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
415 AM CST MON JAN 26 2004

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

       SOUTHERN AND EASTERN ALABAMA
       THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL FLORIDA PANHANDLE
       SOUTHWEST GEORGIA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY MORNING FROM 415 AM UNTIL 1000 AM CST.

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 105 STATUTE MILES EAST AND
WEST OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES NORTHWEST OF ALBANY GEORGIA TO 40
MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF PENSACOLA 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...THUNDERSTORMS ALONG SW/NE ORIENTED LOW LEVEL CONFLUENCE
ZONE EXPECTED TO INTENSIFY DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS AS LARGE
SCALE ASCENT INCREASES BENEATH DEVELOPING JET ENTRANCE REGION ALOFT.
 COUPLED WITH STRENGTHENING DEEP SHEAR /TO AOA 50 KT/ AND CONTINUED
BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE INFLOW /SURFACE DEWPOINTS IN THE MID
60S/...SETUP MAY BECOME SUPPORTIVE OF A FEW LONG LIVED SUPERCELLS
GIVEN ORIENTATION OF CONFLUENCE BAND PARALLEL TO MEAN FLOW. LOW LCLS
SUGGEST POSSIBILITY OF TORNADOES IN ADDITION TO SMALL SCALE BOWING
SEGMENTS WITH HIGH WIND.

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 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23035.


...CORFIDI

320,0830 295,0850 295,0884 320,0863

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 26, 2:10 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Barbour, Butler, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 7 more3 hr
Jan 26, 7:00 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Barbour, Butler, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 7 more2 hr
Jan 26, 9:30 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCDale, Geneva, Henry, Houston6 hr
Jan 26, 11:10 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Gulf65 min
Jan 26, 2:00 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Columbia, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Madison and 4 more60 min
Jan 26, 3:15 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClarke, Columbia, Elbert, Glascock, Greene, Hancock and 14 more6 hr
Jan 26, 4:57 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBanks, Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Franklin, Greene and 13 more5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2004Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2004Tornado Watches in Florida, 2004Every tornado watch in 2004

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.