Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2009
Tornado Watch 41
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 28, 2009, 8:25 AM EST for 49 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 28, 2009, 8:25 AM EST (13:25 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 28, 2009, 11:44 AM EST
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 49 counties
Baldwin County, GA, Bibb County, GA, Bleckley County, GA, Butts County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Crawford County, GA, Crisp County, GA, Dodge County, GA, Dooly County, GA, Emanuel County, GA, Glascock County, GA, Hancock County, GA, Harris County, GA, Houston County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Jefferson County, GA, Johnson County, GA, Jones County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Laurens County, GA, Macon County, GA, Marion County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Montgomery County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pike County, GA, Pulaski County, GA, Putnam County, GA, Schley County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taliaferro County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Telfair County, GA, Toombs County, GA, Treutlen County, GA, Troup County, GA, Twiggs County, GA, Upson County, GA, Warren County, GA, Washington County, GA, Webster County, GA, Wheeler County, GA, Wilcox County, GA, Wilkinson County, GA
The radar
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 70 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:25 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
- 40%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 30%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
10 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 28, 9:03 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Harris | 57 min |
| Feb 28, 9:23 AM EST | Tornado Warning | FFC | Harris, Muscogee | 52 min |
| Feb 28, 9:40 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Chattahoochee, Muscogee | 50 min |
| Feb 28, 9:52 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Macon, Marion, Schley, Taylor | 53 min |
| Feb 28, 10:13 AM EST | Tornado Warning | FFC | Chattahoochee, Marion | 47 min |
| Feb 28, 11:05 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Houston, Macon, Peach, Schley, Taylor | 40 min |
| Feb 28, 11:14 AM EST | Tornado Warning | FFC | Macon | 37 min |
| Feb 28, 11:18 AM EST | Tornado Warning | FFC | Crawford, Macon, Peach, Taylor | 27 min |
| Feb 28, 11:32 AM EST | Tornado Warning | FFC | Houston, Pulaski | 58 min |
| Feb 28, 11:35 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Dooly, Macon, Pulaski | 40 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
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 69 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 509 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 524 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 700 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
781
WWUS20 KWNS 281325
SEL1
SPC WW 281325
GAZ000-281900-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 41
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
825 AM EST SAT FEB 28 2009
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL GEORGIA
EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 825 AM UNTIL
200 PM EST.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 45 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 10 MILES WEST OF AUBURN
ALABAMA TO 75 MILES EAST OF MACON GEORGIA. FOR A COMPLETE
DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).
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 40...
DISCUSSION...CLUSTER OF STRONG/SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER EAST
CENTRAL AL WILL TRACK EASTWARD THIS MORNING INTO CENTRAL GA...IN
VICINITY OF RETREATING SURFACE WARM FRONT. LATEST VAD WIND PROFILES
SUGGEST FAVORABLE LOW LEVEL AND DEEP LAYER VERTICAL SHEAR FOR A RISK
OF SUPERCELLS/TORNADOES...ALONG WITH LOCALLY DAMAGING WINDS AND
HAIL. AIRMASS IS EXPECTED TO DESTABILIZE EASTWARD INTO EAST-CENTRAL
GA BY EARLY AFTERNOON WITH A CONTINUED SEVERE THREAT.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26040.
...HARTSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 27, 7:38 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chambers and 30 more | 97 min |
| Feb 27, 8:45 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chambers and 28 more | 7 hr |
| Feb 27, 9:48 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Cullman, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence and 4 more | 117 min |
| Feb 27, 11:47 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton and 23 more | 118 min |
| Feb 28, 3:15 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton and 25 more | 90 min |
| Feb 28, 3:52 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton and 15 more | 9 hr |
| Feb 28, 6:40 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Bullock, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 17 more | 2 hr |
| Feb 28, 10:49 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 8 more | 86 min |
| Feb 28, 11:39 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Coffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston | 7 hr |
| Feb 28, 4:57 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Lauderdale | 4 hr |
| Feb 28, 6:43 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston | 8 hr |
| Feb 28, 1:50 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien and 37 more | 85 min |
| Feb 28, 4:27 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Camden and 16 more | 93 min |
Nearby
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.