Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 919

December 9, 2004Houston County, Alabama; Jackson County, Florida; 46 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 9, 2004, 10:25 PM CST for Houston County, Alabama; Jackson County, Florida; 46 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 9, 2004, 10:25 PM CST (04:25 UTC)
Expired
Dec 10, 2004, 2:00 AM CST
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 48 counties

Houston County, AL, Jackson County, FL, Baker County, GA, Ben Hill County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Bleckley County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Clay County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Crawford County, GA, Crisp County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dodge County, GA, Dooly County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Emanuel County, GA, Grady County, GA, Houston County, GA, Irwin County, GA, Johnson County, GA, Laurens County, GA, Lee County, GA, Macon County, GA, Marion County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Montgomery County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pulaski County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Schley County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Telfair County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Tift County, GA, Treutlen County, GA, Turner County, GA, Twiggs County, GA, Webster County, GA, Wheeler County, GA, Wilcox County, GA, Worth County, GA

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 9, 10:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAECalhoun43 min
Dec 9, 10:37 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMacon, Schley38 min
Dec 9, 10:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEDougherty, Lee, Worth48 min
Dec 9, 11:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHouston27 min
Dec 9, 11:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCTwiggs49 min
Dec 10, 1:18 AM CSTTornado WarningTAEColquitt27 min
Dec 10, 1:45 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBerrien, Colquitt, Cook, Tift45 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 00:00Z, 4.4 hours before the alert went out and 121 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 00:00Z on 2004-12-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1502 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 2004-12-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 123 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1502 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
471 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
123 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 100425
SEL9  
SPC WW 100425
ALZ000-GAZ000-100800-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 919
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1125 PM EST THU DEC 9 2004

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

       EXTREME SOUTHEAST ALABAMA
       SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING FROM 1125 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 65 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF MACON GEORGIA TO 40
MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF MARIANNA 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 918...

DISCUSSION...INCREASING LARGE SCALE ASCENT IS SUPPORTING
STRENGTHENING THUNDERSTORMS OVER SWRN GA/FAR SERN AL LATE THIS
EVENING.  INSTABILITY AND SHEAR PARAMETERS REMAIN VERY FAVORABLE FOR
SUPERCELLS AND TORNADOES SHOULD STORMS ROOT DEEPLY INTO A VERY MOIST
BOUNDARY LAYER AS ACTIVITY DEVELOPS ENEWD OVERNIGHT.

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
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...EVANS

325,0820 303,0832 303,0853 325,0841

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 9, 6:15 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCRandolph90 min
Dec 10, 10:12 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDeKalb, Jackson33 min
Dec 9, 9:48 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGadsden, Jackson87 min
Dec 10, 1:11 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCJackson64 min
Dec 10, 5:41 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia and 9 more3 hr
Dec 9, 8:05 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Burke, Butts, Carroll and 51 more6 hr
Dec 9, 11:07 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Burke, Butts, Carroll and 52 more83 min
Dec 10, 1:35 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley and 44 more6 hr
Dec 10, 5:00 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley and 44 more2 hr
Dec 10, 11:53 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCatoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon and 3 more2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2004Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2004Tornado 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.