Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 918

December 9, 200457 counties in Georgia; 20 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 9, 2004, 9:05 PM EST for 57 counties in Georgia; 20 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 9, 2004, 9:05 PM EST (02:05 UTC)
Expired
Dec 10, 2004, 3:00 AM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 77 counties

Baldwin County, GA, Barrow County, GA, Bibb County, GA, Burke County, GA, Butts County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Clarke County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Cobb County, GA, Columbia County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Crawford County, GA, DeKalb County, GA, Douglas County, GA, Elbert County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Fulton County, GA, Glascock County, GA, Greene County, GA, Gwinnett County, GA, Hancock County, GA, Harris County, GA, Heard County, GA, Henry County, GA, Jackson County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Jefferson County, GA, Jones County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lincoln County, GA, Madison County, GA, McDuffie County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Morgan County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Newton County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Oglethorpe County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pike County, GA, Putnam County, GA, Richmond County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taliaferro County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Troup County, GA, Twiggs County, GA, Upson County, GA, Walton County, GA, Warren County, GA, Washington County, GA, Wilkes County, GA, Wilkinson County, GA, Abbeville County, SC, Aiken County, SC, Bamberg County, SC, Barnwell County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Greenwood County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, McCormick County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Richland County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Sumter County, SC

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 9, 9:14 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCoweta, Heard31 min
Dec 9, 9:15 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDeKalb45 min
Dec 9, 9:27 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBanks, Jackson48 min
Dec 9, 9:38 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGwinnett, Rockdale22 min
Dec 9, 9:50 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCoweta, Fayette, Fulton25 min
Dec 10, 12:41 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCTwiggs49 min
Dec 10, 12:50 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAERichmond40 min
Dec 10, 2:03 AM ESTTornado WarningCAEAiken42 min
Dec 10, 2:53 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington22 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 127 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2004-12-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 976 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2004-12-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 246 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
976 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
568 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
246 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
243 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.5
Supercell composite
5.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 100209
SEL8  
SPC WW 100205
GAZ000-SCZ000-100800-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 918
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
905 PM EST THU DEC 9 2004

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

       CENTRAL GEORGIA
       CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING FROM 905 PM UNTIL
300 AM EST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 55 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 5 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF LA GRANGE GEORGIA
TO 55 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA.

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...CONVECTION WILL CONTINUE INCREASING AHEAD OF STRONG
SHORTWAVE TROUGH NOW APPROACHING THE SRN APPALACHIANS...WITH STORMS
SPREADING ENEWD ACROSS CENTRAL SC BY LATER TONIGHT.  AIR MASS IS
MARGINALLY TO MODERATELY UNSTABLE ALONG AND SOUTH OF A STATIONARY
FRONT EXTENDING FROM NEAR ATL TO NEAR GSB...WHICH WILL LIKELY FOCUS
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THREAT.  00Z SOUNDING AND AREA VWPS INDICATE
PRONOUNCED SHEAR AND LOW LCLS SUGGESTING STRONGER STORMS WILL LIKELY
BECOME SUPERCELLULAR OR EVOLVE INTO SMALL BOW ECHOES WITH ATTENDANT
THREATS OF A FEW TORNADOES AND DAMAGING WINDS.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
400. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24040.


...EVANS

334,0850 350,0801 332,0801 321,0850

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 9, 7:15 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Burke, Butts, Carroll and 44 more90 min
Dec 9, 10:48 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Ben Hill, Bleckley, Calhoun, Clay, Colquitt and 29 more87 min
Dec 9, 11:25 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCBaker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley, Brooks, Calhoun and 40 more4 hr
Dec 10, 12:07 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Burke, Butts, Carroll and 52 more83 min
Dec 10, 2:11 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Baldwin, Barrow, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley and 100 more64 min
Dec 10, 2:35 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley and 44 more6 hr
Dec 10, 6:00 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley and 44 more2 hr
Dec 10, 11:12 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBanks, Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Dade and 19 more33 min
Dec 10, 12:53 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCatoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon and 3 more2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2004Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 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.