Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 800
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 5, 2004, 1:40 PM EDT for 30 counties in Florida; 10 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 5, 2004, 1:40 PM EDT (17:40 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 5, 2004, 9:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 40 counties
Alachua County, FL, Baker County, FL, Bradford County, FL, Brevard County, FL, Citrus County, FL, Clay County, FL, Columbia County, FL, Duval County, FL, Flagler County, FL, Gilchrist County, FL, Hamilton County, FL, Hernando County, FL, Hillsborough County, FL, Lafayette County, FL, Lake County, FL, Levy County, FL, Madison County, FL, Marion County, FL, Nassau County, FL, Orange County, FL, Osceola County, FL, Pasco County, FL, Polk County, FL, Putnam County, FL, Saint Johns County, FL, Seminole County, FL, Sumter County, FL, Suwannee County, FL, Union County, FL, Volusia County, FL, Brantley County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Camden County, GA, Charlton County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Cook County, GA, Echols County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, Ware County, GA
The radar
The Jacksonville radar (KJAX), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:40 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
Warnings issued inside it
10 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5, 2:09 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | JAX | Hamilton, Suwannee | 36 min |
| Sep 5, 4:53 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | JAX | Saint Johns | 52 min |
| Sep 5, 4:57 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | JAX | Pierce, Ware | 48 min |
| Sep 5, 5:59 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | JAX | Bacon, Ware | 31 min |
| Sep 5, 6:10 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | JAX | Baker, Duval | 50 min |
| Sep 5, 6:35 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | JAX | Putnam | 40 min |
| Sep 5, 6:50 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | JAX | Alachua | 40 min |
| Sep 5, 6:59 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | JAX | Duval | 46 min |
| Sep 5, 7:07 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | JAX | Ware | 23 min |
| Sep 5, 7:42 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | JAX | Pierce, Ware | 48 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
Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 12:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 74 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1587 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 734 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 16 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 166 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 205 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 051743
SEL0
SPC WW 051740
FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-060100-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 800
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
140 PM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL AND NORTH FLORIDA
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST GEORGIA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 140 PM UNTIL 900
PM EDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES WEST OF WAYCROSS GEORGIA TO 55 MILES WEST
SOUTHWEST OF MELBOURNE 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 799. WATCH NUMBER 799 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 140
PM EDT.
DISCUSSION...HURRICANE FRANCES CONTINUES TO MOVE SLOWLY WWD ACROSS
CENTRAL FL TOWARD THE TAMPA BAY AREA. THOUGH WIDESPREAD CLOUDS AND
RAINFALL HAVE LIMITED INSTABILITY OVER THE PENINSULA...MORE
BROKEN/CELLULAR CONVECTIVE BANDS SHOULD SPREAD INLAND FROM E-W
THROUGH THIS EVENING. STRONG WIND FIELDS AND ASSOCIATED LOW-LEVEL
SHEAR WILL SUPPORT A THREAT OF EMBEDDED RAIN BAND SUPERCELLS WITH A
FEW TORNADOES. THE MOST FAVORABLE AREA FOR TORNADOES THIS AFTERNOON
SHOULD BE FROM ROUGHLY THE CAPE CANAVERAL AREA NWD TO NEAR
JACKSONVILLE.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 11045.
...THOMPSON
311,0813 274,0802 274,0823 311,0834SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5, 5:14 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alachua, Brevard, Citrus, DeSoto, Dixie, Flagler and 25 more | 91 min |
| Sep 5, 6:10 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Citrus, Clay and 26 more | 8 hr |
| Sep 5, 5:09 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Saint Johns | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Florida, 2004Tornado Watches in Georgia, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.