Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2009

Tornado Watch 31

February 19, 20097 counties in Georgia; Beaufort County, Jasper County, South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 19, 2009, 2:44 AM EST for 7 counties in Georgia; Beaufort County, Jasper County, South Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Feb 19, 2009, 2:44 AM EST (07:44 UTC)
Expired
Feb 19, 2009, 5:41 AM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Bryan County, GA, Chatham County, GA, Evans County, GA, Liberty County, GA, Long County, GA, McIntosh County, GA, Tattnall County, GA, Beaufort County, SC, Jasper County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:48 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
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
20%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
20%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
50%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 19, 4:00 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSLiberty, Long, McIntosh28 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

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 00:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 161 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, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 2009-02-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 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, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 2009-02-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 371 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-86 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
988 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
371 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
360 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 18, 8:02 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBryan, Bulloch, Candler, Chatham, Effingham, Evans and 6 more7 hr
Feb 18, 8:14 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarroll, Coweta, Douglas, Fayette, Haralson, Harris and 6 more61 min
Feb 18, 8:58 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Bibb, Bleckley, Burke, Butts, Chattahoochee and 51 more92 min
Feb 18, 10:14 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBaker, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley and 72 more6 hr
Feb 18, 11:55 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Baldwin, Ben Hill and 85 more95 min
Feb 19, 12:38 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Camden, Charlton and 8 more81 min
Feb 19, 1:41 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrantley, Brooks, Camden, Charlton, Clinch, Colquitt and 9 more49 min
Feb 19, 1:58 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien and 31 more7 hr
Feb 19, 2:20 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBryan, Bulloch, Candler, Chatham, Crisp, Dodge and 13 more25 min
Feb 19, 4:19 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Camden and 15 more56 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2009Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2009Every tornado watch in 2009

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.