Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 858

August 23, 20088 counties in Florida; 26 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Aug 23, 2008, 5:24 PM EDT for 8 counties in Florida; 26 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 23, 2008, 5:24 PM EDT (21:24 UTC)
Expired
Aug 23, 2008, 11:00 PM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 34 counties

Dixie County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Lafayette County, FL, Leon County, FL, Madison County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Baker County, GA, Ben Hill County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Clay County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Grady County, GA, Irwin County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Lee County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Tift County, GA, Turner County, GA, Worth County, GA

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:28 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
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
Aug 23, 5:33 PM EDTTornado WarningTAEJefferson27 min
Aug 23, 5:48 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningTAEJefferson, Leon, Madison, Taylor, Wakulla117 min
Aug 23, 6:06 PM EDTTornado WarningTAEJefferson24 min
Aug 23, 6:09 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningTAEGrady, Thomas2 hr
Aug 23, 6:19 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningTAELee, Worth116 min
Aug 23, 7:54 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningTAEJefferson, Leon66 min
Aug 23, 8:19 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningTAEGrady, Thomas116 min
Aug 23, 9:05 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningTAEJefferson, Leon115 min
Aug 23, 10:30 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningTAEWakulla6 hr

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, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 37 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 2008-08-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 177 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2008-08-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 136 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
177 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
494 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
142 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 22, 8:45 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Hamilton and 2 more2 hr
Aug 23, 6:40 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDixie, Lafayette, Levy, Taylor2 hr
Aug 23, 7:18 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlachua, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton and 10 more8 hr
Aug 23, 11:35 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColumbia, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Hamilton and 9 more115 min
Aug 23, 2:41 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColumbia, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Hamilton and 9 more2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.