Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2006

Tornado Watch 360

May 16, 20066 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 16, 2006, 12:08 AM EDT for 6 counties in Florida. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 2006, 12:08 AM EDT (04:08 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 2006, 6:00 AM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Broward County, FL, Collier County, FL, Glades County, FL, Hendry County, FL, Miami-Dade County, FL, Palm Beach County, FL

The radar

The Miami radar (KAMX), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:09 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 12:16 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLPalm Beach34 min
May 16, 3:12 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLBroward33 min
May 16, 3:23 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLMiami-Dade, Monroe67 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, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 91 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, Miami, FL at 00:00Z on 2006-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 751 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, Miami, FL at 00:00Z on 2006-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 164 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
751 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-71 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1116 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
164 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
236 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
5.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 160406
SEL0  
SPC WW 160406
FLZ000-CWZ000-161000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 360
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1205 AM EDT TUE MAY 16 2006

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

       SOUTH FLORIDA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY MORNING FROM 1205 AM UNTIL 600 AM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 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 65 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF
FORT MEYERS FLORIDA TO 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MARATHON FLORIDA. 
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU0).

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/SUPERCELLS FORMING/MOVING EWD FROM THE ERN GULF
EXPECTED TO SPREAD ACROSS SW FL LATER THIS MORNING...WITH ADDITIONAL
DEVELOPMENT POSSIBLE EWD ALONG EXISTING W/E BOUNDARY TO THE E COAST.
LOW TO MID LEVEL SHEAR LIKELY WILL REMAIN MODEST IN WW AREA.  BUT
PRESENT STORM STRUCTURES...AND CHARACTER/DEGREE OF ORGANIZATION OF
STORM CLUSTERS IN THE CNTRL AND ERN GULF...SUGGEST PRESENCE OF A
LARGER SCALE LOW OR MID LEVEL CIRCULATION THAT MAY YIELD SLIGHTLY
STRONGER/MORE BACKED LLJ THAN NOW FORECAST.  COUPLED WITH QUALITY OF
BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE AVAILABILITY AND PRESENCE OF RESIDUAL
OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES...SETUP MAY SUPPORT TORNADOES IN ADDITION TO
LARGE HAIL/HIGH WIND.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26025.


...CORFIDI

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 10:57 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBroward, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Lee, Martin and 3 more2 hr
May 16, 4:42 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCMiami-Dade93 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Florida, 2006Every tornado watch in 2006

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.