Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 48

February 6, 200812 counties in Alabama; 6 counties in Florida; 53 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 6, 2008, 7:06 AM CST for 12 counties in Alabama; 6 counties in Florida; 53 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Feb 6, 2008, 7:06 AM CST (13:06 UTC)
Expired
Feb 6, 2008, 1:00 PM CST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
70 kt
All 71 counties

Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Dale County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Lee County, AL, Macon County, AL, Pike County, AL, Russell County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Baker County, GA, Bibb County, GA, Butts County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Cherokee County, GA, Clay County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Cobb County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Crawford County, GA, Crisp County, GA, DeKalb County, GA, Dooly County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Douglas County, GA, Early County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Fulton County, GA, Harris County, GA, Heard County, GA, Henry County, GA, Houston County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Jones County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lee County, GA, Macon County, GA, Marion County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Miller County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Newton County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pickens County, GA, Pike County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Schley County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Troup County, GA, Upson County, GA, Webster County, GA

What SPC expected

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

Two or more tornadoes
50%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
40%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
5%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 6, 7:40 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour, Bullock, Elmore, Lee, Macon, Montgomery and 2 more65 min
Feb 6, 8:09 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXBarbour, Bullock, Pike36 min
Feb 6, 9:00 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCChattahoochee, Muscogee37 min
Feb 6, 9:13 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRussell17 min
Feb 6, 9:14 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAECoffee46 min
Feb 6, 9:49 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAECoffee, Dale41 min
Feb 6, 10:46 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEHenry29 min
Feb 6, 10:58 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEQuitman, Randolph22 min
Feb 6, 11:43 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAERandolph, Terrell32 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 12:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 187 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 12:00Z on 2008-02-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 13 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 12:00Z on 2008-02-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 223 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
13 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
657 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
223 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
186 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 061308
SEL8  
SPC WW 061308
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-061900-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 48
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
805 AM EST WED FEB 6 2008

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

       EAST-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEASTERN ALABAMA
       FLORIDA PANHANDLE
       WESTERN AND NORTHERN GEORGIA

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 805 AM UNTIL
200 PM EST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE
MILES EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES WEST OF PANAMA CITY
FLORIDA TO 20 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF ATLANTA GEORGIA.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU8).

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 46...WW 47...

DISCUSSION...BAND OF STG-SVR TSTMS WITH EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS IS
EXPECTED TO SHIFT EWD ACROSS WW AREA THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS. 
FOREGOING AIR MASS SHOULD DESTABILIZE FAVORABLY TO SUPPORT
ADDITIONAL WIND DAMAGE AND TORNADO POTENTIAL...AMIDST LARGE VALUES
OF BOTH LOW-LEVEL AND DEEP-LAYER VERTICAL SHEAR.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24045.


...EDWARDS/EVANS

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 5, 9:39 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Colbert, Cullman, Fayette, Franklin, Jackson and 10 more96 min
Feb 5, 10:01 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCBibb, Blount, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah and 23 more8 hr
Feb 6, 1:23 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCChoctaw, Clarke, Mobile, Washington6 hr
Feb 6, 2:41 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman and 25 more2 hr
Feb 6, 4:06 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chilton and 24 more6 hr
Feb 6, 4:27 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Butler, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 7 more2 hr
Feb 6, 5:04 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Covington and 6 more5 hr
Feb 6, 6:10 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun and 34 more2 hr
Feb 6, 10:20 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry and 3 more85 min
Feb 6, 1:52 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Columbia, Duval, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf and 10 more53 min
Feb 6, 7:49 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFannin, Gilmer, Habersham, Lumpkin, Murray, Rabun and 4 more116 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2008Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2008Tornado Watches in Florida, 2008Every tornado watch in 2008

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.