Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 829

September 16, 20046 counties in Alabama; 20 counties in Florida; 35 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 16, 2004, 9:50 AM CDT for 6 counties in Alabama; 20 counties in Florida; 35 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 10 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 16, 2004, 9:50 AM CDT (14:50 UTC)
Expired
Sep 16, 2004, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
10 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 61 counties

Coffee County, AL, Dale County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Pike County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Columbia County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gilchrist County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Hamilton County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Lafayette County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Madison County, FL, Suwannee County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Appling County, GA, Atkinson County, GA, Bacon County, GA, Baker County, GA, Ben Hill County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Clay County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Coffee County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Echols County, GA, Grady County, GA, Irwin County, GA, Jeff Davis County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Lee County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Pierce County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Tift County, GA, Turner County, GA, Ware County, GA, Worth County, GA

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:50 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 16, 10:57 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBMXBarbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coosa, Lee, Macon and 3 more4 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, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 2004-09-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 878 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 2004-09-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 428 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
878 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
725 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
428 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
501 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.8
Supercell composite
13.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 161458
SEL9  
SPC WW 161450
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-170100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 829
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1050 AM EDT THU SEP 16 2004

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

       SOUTHEAST ALABAMA
       NORTHWEST FLORIDA INCLUDING MUCH OF THE PANHANDLE
       SOUTHERN GEORGIA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY MORNING AND EVENING FROM 1050 AM UNTIL 900
PM EDT.

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

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 115 STATUTE MILES EAST AND
WEST OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF ALBANY GEORGIA TO
30 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF 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 827. WATCH NUMBER 827 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER
1050 AM EDT. CONTINUE...WW 828...

DISCUSSION...VERY STRONG SHEAR ALONG WITH A DESTABILIZING AIR MASS
WILL LIKELY CONTINUE SUPPORTING ROTATION AND POSSIBILITY OF
TORNADOES WITH CELLS/BANDS ASSOCIATED WITH IVAN.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXTREME
TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI
WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 19040.


...EVANS

315,0820 293,0824 293,0862 315,0860

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 15, 8:09 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Clarke, Coffee and 17 more2 hr
Sep 15, 10:35 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton and 20 more115 min
Sep 16, 1:10 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler and 34 more9 hr
Sep 16, 2:57 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler and 33 more2 hr
Sep 16, 7:03 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler and 32 more117 min
Sep 16, 9:09 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers and 25 more66 min
Sep 16, 9:45 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee and 17 more10 hr
Sep 16, 1:16 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay and 15 more119 min
Sep 16, 5:38 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, DeKalb and 6 more2 hr
Sep 16, 5:00 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCColumbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Madison and 2 more5 hr
Sep 16, 9:58 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBryan, Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Chatham, Columbia and 16 more2 hr
Sep 16, 11:20 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCBryan, Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Chatham, Columbia and 19 more9 hr
Sep 16, 2:31 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBulloch, Burke, Candler, Columbia, Effingham, Emanuel and 11 more119 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2004Tornado 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.