Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2005
Tornado Watch 803
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 20, 2005, 4:40 AM EDT for 6 counties in Florida. It was in force for 12 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 20, 2005, 4:40 AM EDT (08:40 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 20, 2005, 4:27 PM EDT
- In force
- 12 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
Counties Broward County, FL, Collier County, FL, Hendry County, FL, Miami-Dade County, FL, Monroe County, FL, Palm Beach County, FL
The radar
The Miami radar (KAMX), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:39 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
2 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 20, 2:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MFL | Broward | 35 min |
| Sep 20, 2:54 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MFL | Miami-Dade | 36 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
Miami, FL (KMFL), launched 00:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 82 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2313 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 690 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 9 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 40 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 65 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 200839
SEL3
SPC WW 200839
FLZ000-CWZ000-202100-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 803
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
440 AM EDT TUE SEP 20 2005
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTH FLORIDA AND THE FLORIDA KEYS
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 440 AM UNTIL 500
PM EDT.
TORNADOES...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF WEST PALM
BEACH FLORIDA TO 15 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF KEY WEST FLORIDA. FOR
A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).
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...TROPICAL STORM RITA IS EXPECTED TO BECOME A HURRICANE
TODAY WHILE MOVING WWD ACROSS THE FL STRAITS. LOW-LEVEL SHEAR AND
WINDS SHOULD CONTINUE TO INCREASE OVER S FL AND THE KEYS
TODAY...SUPPORTING A THREAT FOR A FEW MINI SUPERCELLS AND A COUPLE
OF TORNADOES WITH THE OUTER NRN BANDS.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXTREME
TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI
WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 09040.
...THOMPSON
264,0792 242,0803 242,0823 264,0812SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 20, 2:42 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Broward, Collier, Hendry, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach | 2 hr |
| Sep 20, 4:30 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Broward, Collier, Miami-Dade, Monroe | 9 hr |
Nearby
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.