Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2005

Tornado Watch 897

December 15, 200519 counties in Florida; 7 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 15, 2005, 5:56 AM CST for 19 counties in Florida; 7 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 15, 2005, 5:56 AM CST (11:56 UTC)
Expired
Dec 15, 2005, 1:00 PM CST
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 26 counties

Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Dixie County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Lafayette County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Madison County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Brooks County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Grady County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Thomas County, GA

The radar

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:55 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.

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, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 111 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 2005-12-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2005-12-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 170 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
871 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
170 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
241 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 151156
SEL7  
SPC WW 151156
FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-151900-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 897
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
555 AM CST THU DEC 15 2005

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

       THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE
       SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 555 AM UNTIL
100 PM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 120 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF
MARIANNA FLORIDA TO 35 MILES WEST OF APALACHICOLA FLORIDA.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7).

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...TSTMS HAVE DEVELOPED ALONG AND AHEAD OF COLD FRONT OVER
THE N CNTRL GULF...IN WAKE OF RAPIDLY DISSIPATING BAND OF PREFRONTAL
CONVECTION.  SURFACE AND STLT DATA SUGGEST THAT SUFFICIENT LOW LEVEL
AIR MASS RECOVERY WILL OCCUR OVER THE NERN GULF AND INTO THE FL
PANHANDLE TO SUPPORT ADDITIONAL STORM DEVELOPMENT THROUGH MIDDAY. 
GIVEN 50 KT DEEP WSWLY SHEAR AND SLIGHTLY BACKED LOW LEVEL FLOW
AHEAD OF FRONTAL WAVE NOW S OF KMOB...POTENTIAL WILL EXIST FOR A FEW
SUPERCELLS WITH BOWING SEGMENTS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23035.


...CORFIDI

310,0823 294,0833 294,0873 310,0864

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 14, 9:29 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCBay, Calhoun, Escambia, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson and 4 more8 hr
Dec 15, 2:31 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Okaloosa and 3 more119 min
Dec 15, 5:22 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Franklin, Gulf113 min
Dec 15, 7:37 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Calhoun, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf and 10 more53 min
Dec 15, 11:05 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFranklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison and 2 more55 min
Dec 15, 12:19 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDixie, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Madison and 3 more56 min
Dec 15, 4:46 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCitrus, Hernando, Pasco89 min
Dec 14, 9:44 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBanks, Barrow, Cherokee, Clarke, Dawson, DeKalb and 18 more6 hr
Dec 15, 6:26 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBanks, Barrow, Clarke, Dawson, Elbert, Forsyth and 19 more6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Florida, 2005Tornado Watches in Georgia, 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.