Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 823

September 15, 2004Baldwin County, Mobile County, Alabama; 14 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 15, 2004, 12:00 PM CDT for Baldwin County, Mobile County, Alabama; 14 counties in Florida. It was in force for 10 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 15, 2004, 12:00 PM CDT (17:00 UTC)
Expired
Sep 15, 2004, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
10 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Baldwin County, AL, Mobile County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Escambia County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 15, 1:35 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEBay40 min
Sep 15, 1:37 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBBaldwin53 min
Sep 15, 2:46 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEGulf29 min
Sep 15, 2:54 PM CDTTornado WarningMOBEscambia, Santa Rosa36 min
Sep 15, 3:17 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEGulf43 min
Sep 15, 3:39 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEBay51 min
Sep 15, 4:10 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEWalton50 min
Sep 15, 4:46 PM CDTTornado WarningTAELeon29 min
Sep 15, 4:52 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEGulf23 min
Sep 15, 5:09 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEBay, Calhoun, Gulf51 min
Sep 15, 5:27 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEFranklin, Gulf48 min
Sep 15, 5:52 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEHolmes, Walton, Washington38 min
Sep 15, 6:06 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEBay, Calhoun, Washington39 min
Sep 15, 6:14 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEBay, Calhoun, Gulf46 min
Sep 15, 6:48 PM CDTTornado WarningTAELiberty27 min
Sep 15, 7:01 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEBay, Calhoun29 min
Sep 15, 7:14 PM CDTTornado WarningTAECalhoun, Gulf, Liberty46 min
Sep 15, 7:29 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEBay, Washington31 min
Sep 15, 7:56 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEHolmes34 min
Sep 15, 7:56 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEJackson49 min
Sep 15, 8:24 PM CDTTornado WarningTAELiberty51 min
Sep 15, 9:08 PM CDTTornado WarningTAECalhoun, Jackson, Liberty52 min
Sep 15, 9:27 PM CDTTornado WarningTAEFranklin, Liberty48 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 12:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 222 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 2004-09-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 577 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 2004-09-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 167 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
577 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
673 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
167 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
250 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 151659
SEL3  
SPC WW 151700
ALZ000-FLZ000-CWZ000-160300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 823
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1200 PM CDT WED SEP 15 2004

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

       FAR SOUTHERN ALABAMA
       FLORIDA PANHANDLE
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM NOON UNTIL
1000 PM CDT.

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

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 40 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 5 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF MOBILE ALABAMA TO
20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF TALLAHASSEE 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...OUTERBANDS BANDS OF IVAN WILL CONTINUE TO LIFT NWD AND
ROTATE ACROSS THE FL PANHANDLE AND FAR SRN AL THROUGH THE MID
EVENING.  VERY STRONG SHEAR WILL SUPPORT SUPERCELLS AND A THREAT OF
TORNADOES.

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 16035.


...EVANS

311,0881 304,0840 293,0840 300,0881

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 15, 11:17 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Geneva88 min
Sep 15, 3:50 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke and 19 more10 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Florida, 2004Tornado Watches in Alabama, 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.