Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2005

Tornado Watch 51

March 16, 200525 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 16, 2005, 2:10 PM EST for 25 counties in Florida. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 16, 2005, 2:10 PM EST (19:10 UTC)
Expired
Mar 16, 2005, 8:00 PM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 25 counties

Alachua County, FL, Brevard County, FL, Citrus County, FL, Flagler County, FL, Gilchrist County, FL, Hardee County, FL, Hernando County, FL, Highlands County, FL, Hillsborough County, FL, Indian River County, FL, Lake County, FL, Levy County, FL, Manatee County, FL, Marion County, FL, Okeechobee County, FL, Orange County, FL, Osceola County, FL, Pasco County, FL, Pinellas County, FL, Polk County, FL, Putnam County, FL, Saint Lucie County, FL, Seminole County, FL, Sumter County, FL, Volusia County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:14 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 16, 4:02 PM ESTTornado WarningMLBVolusia45 min
Mar 16, 4:25 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBVolusia35 min
Mar 16, 4:34 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBBrevard26 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 12:00Z, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 90 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 12:00Z on 2005-03-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 307 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 2005-03-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 290 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
307 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-158 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
757 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
290 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
305 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 161914
SEL1  
SPC WW 161914
FLZ000-CWZ000-170100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 51
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
210 PM EST WED MAR 16 2005

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

       CENTRAL AND NORTHERN FLORIDA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 210 PM UNTIL
800 PM 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 APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 90 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF DAYTONA
BEACH FLORIDA TO 30 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF AVON PARK FLORIDA. 
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).

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...MODERATELY UNSTABLE...STRONGLY SHEARED AIR MASS ACROSS
WATCH AREA.  WITH WEAKENING CAP...THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE ACROSS
NRN FL PENINSULA. WITH THE IMPRESSIVE SHEAR NOTED ON 18Z TBW
SOUNDING AND INSTABILITY...ISOLATED TORNADIC SUPERCELLS ARE LIKELY. 
ADDITIONALLY MORE ORGANIZED LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INLAND
FROM GULF WITH PRIMARILY WIND DAMAGE POTENTIAL.

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
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...HALES

294,0795 271,0800 271,0825 294,0825

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 16, 1:48 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Calhoun, Gulf, Liberty2 hr
Mar 16, 5:22 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval and 9 more113 min
Mar 16, 12:19 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlachua, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Dixie, Flagler and 12 more116 min
Mar 16, 4:22 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrevard, Flagler, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Marion and 11 more83 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Florida, 2005Every tornado watch in 2005

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.