Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 913
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 8, 2008, 6:06 PM EDT for 15 counties in Florida; 46 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Oct 8, 2008, 6:06 PM EDT (22:06 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 9, 2008, 1:00 AM EDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 61 counties
Columbia County, FL, Dixie County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gilchrist County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Hamilton County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Lafayette County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Madison County, FL, Suwannee County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Appling County, GA, Atkinson County, GA, Bacon County, GA, Baker County, GA, Ben Hill County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Bleckley County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Coffee County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Crisp County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dodge County, GA, Dooly County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Echols County, GA, Emanuel County, GA, Grady County, GA, Houston County, GA, Irwin County, GA, Jeff Davis County, GA, Johnson County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Laurens County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, Macon County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Montgomery County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pierce County, GA, Pulaski County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Telfair County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Tift County, GA, Toombs County, GA, Treutlen County, GA, Turner County, GA, Twiggs County, GA, Ware County, GA, Wheeler County, GA, Wilcox County, GA, Wilkinson County, GA, Worth County, GA
What SPC expected
The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.
- Two or more tornadoes
- 30%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 5%
- 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
- 50%
Warnings issued inside it
5 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 6:37 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Decatur, Grady | 18 min |
| Oct 8, 7:32 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | TAE | Franklin | 33 min |
| Oct 8, 10:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Lafayette | 24 min |
| Oct 8, 10:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Suwannee | 25 min |
| Oct 8, 11:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Columbia | 45 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, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 119 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
- 289 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -26 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 615 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 23 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 168 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 177 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
707
WWUS20 KWNS 082206
SEL3
SPC WW 082206
FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-090500-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 913
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
605 PM EDT WED OCT 8 2008
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE
SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL GEORGIA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM 605 PM
UNTIL 100 AM EDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 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 60 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF VIDALIA
GEORGIA TO 25 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF APALACHICOLA 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...FRONTAL AND PRE-FRONTAL STORMS AHEAD OF FAIRLY STRONG
SHORTWAVE TROUGH LIKELY WILL CONTINUE TO EXHIBIT OCCASIONAL
SUPERCELL CHARACTERISTICS GIVEN CONTINUED INFLOW OF WARM/MOIST AIR
BENEATH SLIGHT CAA AT MID LVLS. POTENTIAL WILL EXIST FOR SMALL
SCALE BOWING SEGMENTS WITH LOCALLY DMGG WIND...AND POSSIBLY ISOLD
TORNADOES...GIVEN OBSERVED AND FCST WIND PROFILES.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22030.
...CORFIDISPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 11:14 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes and 7 more | 2 hr |
| Oct 8, 3:13 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Gadsden, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty and 3 more | 92 min |
| Oct 8, 5:51 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Wakulla | 54 min |
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.