Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 804

September 6, 200427 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 6, 2004, 7:55 AM EDT for 27 counties in Florida. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 6, 2004, 7:55 AM EDT (11:55 UTC)
Expired
Sep 6, 2004, 2:00 PM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 27 counties

Brevard County, FL, Charlotte County, FL, Citrus County, FL, DeSoto County, FL, Glades County, FL, Hardee County, FL, Hendry County, FL, Hernando County, FL, Highlands County, FL, Hillsborough County, FL, Indian River County, FL, Lake County, FL, Lee County, FL, Levy County, FL, Manatee County, FL, Marion County, FL, Martin County, FL, Okeechobee County, FL, Orange County, FL, Osceola County, FL, Palm Beach County, FL, Pasco County, FL, Polk County, FL, Saint Lucie County, FL, Seminole County, FL, Sumter County, FL, Volusia County, FL

The radar

The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:56 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 6, 7:59 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWDeSoto, Highlands, Polk61 min
Sep 6, 8:01 AM EDTTornado WarningMLBOsceola59 min
Sep 6, 8:32 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWHardee, Hillsborough, Manatee, Polk28 min
Sep 6, 9:04 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWHardee, Manatee, Polk26 min
Sep 6, 9:29 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWPolk31 min
Sep 6, 9:56 AM EDTTornado WarningMLBVolusia34 min
Sep 6, 10:36 AM EDTTornado WarningTBWHillsborough, Polk24 min
Sep 6, 10:45 AM EDTTornado WarningMLBOsceola60 min
Sep 6, 11:43 AM EDTTornado WarningMLBVolusia32 min
Sep 6, 11:45 AM EDTTornado WarningMLBBrevard, Volusia30 min
Sep 6, 11:59 AM EDTTornado WarningMLBBrevard, Orange, Volusia31 min
Sep 6, 12:06 PM EDTTornado WarningMLBOrange, Osceola24 min
Sep 6, 12:30 PM EDTTornado WarningMLBBrevard, Orange, Volusia60 min
Sep 6, 1:45 PM EDTTornado WarningTBWPolk30 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

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 123 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 00:00Z on 2004-09-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 44 joules per kilogram.10008507005003002001001 km2 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tampa Bay, FL at 00:00Z on 2004-09-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 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
44 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2432 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
155 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 061156
SEL4  
SPC WW 061155
FLZ000-CWZ000-061800-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 804
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
755 AM EDT MON SEP 6 2004

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

       CENTRAL FLORIDA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 755 AM UNTIL 200
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 70 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF DAYTONA BEACH FLORIDA TO
55 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF FORT MEYERS 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...CONTINUE...WW 803...

DISCUSSION...DESPITE BEING IN WAKE OF T.S. FRANCES...CONVECTION
CONTINUES TO STRENGTHEN WITH INCREASING LIGHTNING/COOLING CLOUD TOPS
FROM BAND OF STORMS ARCING SW-NE ACROSS CENTRAL FL THIS MORNING. 
VWP/S INDICATE VERY STRONG LOW LEVEL SHEAR...WHICH WILL OVERSPREAD
ABUNDANTLY MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER /SFC DEW POINTS IN THE MID-UPPER
70S/.  EXPECT MODEST HEATING THIS MORNING WILL FURTHER DESTABILIZE
THE AIR MASS AND STEEPEN LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES...WHICH WILL IN TURN
INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR A FEW TORNADOES.

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 24040.


...EVANS

292,0803 261,0795 261,0821 292,0825

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 5, 8:35 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie and 21 more9 hr
Sep 6, 12:12 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie and 21 more2 hr
Sep 6, 4:06 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie and 21 more84 min
Sep 6, 4:50 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie and 11 more9 hr
Sep 6, 7:48 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrevard, Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Lake and 8 more87 min
Sep 6, 12:28 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Charlotte, Citrus and 36 more92 min
Sep 6, 1:20 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Citrus, Clay and 38 more7 hr
Sep 6, 3:55 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval and 10 more2 hr
Sep 6, 7:12 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Columbia, Duval, Nassau, Union2 hr
Sep 6, 7:45 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCBradford, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam and 1 more9 hr

Nearby

Tornado 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.