Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 938
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 30, 2008, 4:59 AM EST for 12 counties in Florida; 11 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Nov 30, 2008, 4:59 AM EST (09:59 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 30, 2008, 12:00 PM EST
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 23 counties
Columbia County, FL, Dixie County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gilchrist County, FL, Hamilton County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Lafayette County, FL, Leon County, FL, Madison County, FL, Suwannee County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Atkinson County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Echols County, GA, Grady County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, Thomas County, GA
The radar
The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:59 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
- 30%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 10%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 20%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 30, 6:01 AM EST | Tornado Warning | TAE | Taylor | 29 min |
| Nov 30, 7:15 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Taylor | 30 min |
| Nov 30, 9:14 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Dixie | 46 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 00:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 42 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
- 306 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 486 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 68 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 131 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 153 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 0.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 301002
SEL8
SPC WW 301002
FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-301700-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 938
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
500 AM EST SUN NOV 30 2008
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHERN FLORIDA
SOUTHERN GEORGIA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY MORNING FROM 500 AM UNTIL NOON EST.
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 60 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES NORTH OF VALDOSTA
GEORGIA TO 50 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF APALACHICOLA FLORIDA. 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.
DISCUSSION...TSTMS ARE EXPECTED TO INTENSIFY THIS MORNING WITHIN
PRE-FRONTAL CONVECTIVE BAND FROM THE NERN GULF OF MEXICO INTO SRN
GA. WHILE ENVIRONMENT IS FORECAST TO REMAIN ONLY MARGINALLY
UNSTABLE WITH MLCAPE AOB 500 J/KG...INCREASING LARGE-SCALE ASCENT
AHEAD OF AMPLIFYING UPPER TROUGH AND ENHANCED LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE
COINCIDENT WITH SUB-SYNOPTIC SCALE LOW DEVELOPING NEWD SHOULD FOCUS
CLUSTERS OF ORGANIZED TSTMS. GIVEN THE STRONG AMBIENT SHEAR /I.E.
0-1 KM SHEAR OF AROUND 40 KT AND 0-6 KM SHEAR OF 60-65 KT/ AND MOIST
BOUNDARY LAYER CONDITIONS...POTENTIAL WILL EXIST FOR EMBEDDED
SUPERCELL AND BOWING STRUCTURES CAPABLE OF DAMAGING WINDS AND
PERHAPS A TORNADO OR TWO.
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 400.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22045.
...MEAD/THOMPSONSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 30, 3:46 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Columbia, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon and 4 more | 89 min |
| Nov 30, 7:54 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist and 4 more | 96 min |
| Nov 30, 9:51 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Duval and 18 more | 7 hr |
| Nov 30, 12:24 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Flagler, Hillsborough, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola and 6 more | 96 min |
| Nov 30, 1:05 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades and 13 more | 8 hr |
| Nov 30, 3:53 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Broward, Collier, Hendry, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe and 2 more | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Florida, 2008Tornado Watches in Georgia, 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.