Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2009

Tornado Watch 43

February 28, 20095 counties in Alabama; 24 counties in Florida; 45 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 28, 2009, 5:43 PM CST for 5 counties in Alabama; 24 counties in Florida; 45 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Feb 28, 2009, 5:43 PM CST (23:43 UTC)
Expired
Mar 1, 2009, 2:00 AM CST
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 74 counties

Coffee County, AL, Dale County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Baker County, FL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Columbia County, FL, Dixie County, FL, Duval County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Hamilton County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Lafayette County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Madison County, FL, Nassau County, FL, Suwannee County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Union County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Appling County, GA, Atkinson County, GA, Bacon County, GA, Baker County, GA, Ben Hill County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Brantley County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Bryan County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Camden County, GA, Charlton County, GA, Chatham County, GA, Clay County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Coffee County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Echols County, GA, Evans County, GA, Glynn County, GA, Grady County, GA, Irwin County, GA, Jeff Davis County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Lee County, GA, Liberty County, GA, Long County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, McIntosh County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Pierce County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Tattnall County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Tift County, GA, Turner County, GA, Ware County, GA, Wayne County, GA, Worth County, GA

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:47 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
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 28, 5:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAECoffee, Dale, Geneva, Houston36 min
Feb 28, 6:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAETurner, Worth46 min
Feb 28, 6:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEGeneva, Houston44 min
Feb 28, 6:56 PM CSTTornado WarningTAEGrady18 min
Feb 28, 7:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAETift, Turner, Worth45 min
Feb 28, 7:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEGeneva43 min
Feb 28, 7:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEGeneva, Houston35 min
Feb 28, 8:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEHolmes, Walton, Washington40 min
Feb 28, 8:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEHouston28 min
Feb 28, 8:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBaker, Early52 min
Feb 28, 8:42 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEJackson, Washington48 min
Feb 28, 8:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEHouston14 min
Feb 28, 9:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEJackson39 min
Mar 1, 12:51 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBryan, Evans, Liberty, Long, Tattnall54 min
Mar 1, 1:28 AM CSTTornado WarningCHSBryan, Liberty47 min
Mar 1, 1:28 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAELowndes17 min
Mar 1, 1:32 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXClinch, Echols28 min
Mar 1, 1:54 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBryan, Chatham, Effingham, Liberty66 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, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 75 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 2009-02-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 47 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 2009-02-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 154 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
47 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-89 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
637 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
154 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
264 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 27, 6:38 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chambers and 30 more97 min
Feb 27, 7:45 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chambers and 28 more7 hr
Feb 27, 8:48 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Cullman, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence and 4 more117 min
Feb 27, 10:47 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton and 23 more118 min
Feb 28, 2:15 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton and 25 more90 min
Feb 28, 2:52 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton and 15 more9 hr
Feb 28, 5:40 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Bullock, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 17 more2 hr
Feb 28, 9:49 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 8 more86 min
Feb 28, 10:39 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCCoffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston7 hr
Feb 28, 3:57 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Lauderdale4 hr
Feb 28, 12:50 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalhoun, Gadsden, Jackson, Leon, Washington85 min
Feb 28, 3:27 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGadsden, Hamilton, Jefferson, Leon, Madison, Nassau93 min
Feb 28, 7:25 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Chattahoochee, Crawford and 43 more3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2009Tornado Watches in Florida, 2009Tornado Watches in Alabama, 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.