Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2009

Tornado Watch 68

March 26, 20095 counties in Alabama; 7 counties in Florida; 32 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 26, 2009, 7:27 AM CDT for 5 counties in Alabama; 7 counties in Florida; 32 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 26, 2009, 7:27 AM CDT (12:27 UTC)
Expired
Mar 26, 2009, 1:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 44 counties

Coffee County, AL, Dale County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Butts County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Clay County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Crawford County, GA, Early County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Harris County, GA, Heard County, GA, Henry County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Marion County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Miller County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Pike County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Schley County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Troup County, GA, Upson County, GA, Webster County, GA

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
20%
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
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
30%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 26, 7:52 AM CDTTornado WarningTAECoffee38 min
Mar 26, 7:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAECoffee, Geneva64 min
Mar 26, 8:08 AM CDTTornado WarningTAECoffee37 min
Mar 26, 8:42 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEDale, Geneva, Houston48 min
Mar 26, 8:43 AM CDTTornado WarningTAECoffee, Dale, Houston32 min
Mar 26, 9:05 AM CDTTornado WarningTAEDale, Henry, Houston25 min
Mar 26, 9:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEDale, Henry, Houston41 min
Mar 26, 9:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEWalton45 min
Mar 26, 10:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBay, Walton, Washington38 min
Mar 26, 11:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEWalton, Washington45 min
Mar 26, 11:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBay38 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, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 134 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2009-03-26Temperature 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2009-03-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 383 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-175 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
679 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
383 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
448 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

642 
WWUS20 KWNS 261227
SEL8  
SPC WW 261227
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-261800-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 68
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
825 AM EDT THU MAR 26 2009

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       SOUTHEAST ALABAMA
       WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE
       SOUTHWEST GEORGIA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 825 AM UNTIL
200 PM EDT.

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 55 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES EAST OF ATLANTA
GEORGIA TO 30 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF CRESTVIEW 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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 67...

DISCUSSION...SQUALL LINE WITH EMBEDDED BOW ECHOES AND SUPERCELLS
WILL CONTINUE EAST THROUGH SE AL...WRN AND CNTRL GA...AND THE FL
PANHANDLE NEXT FEW HOURS. INSTABILITY IS MARGINAL AHEAD OF THE
LINE...BUT MAY BE SUFFICIENT FOR A THREAT OF ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND
AND PERHAPS ISOLATED TORNADOES GIVEN THE FAVORABLY SHEARED
ENVIRONMENT.

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 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25035.


...DIAL/HALES

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 25, 11:38 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChoctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Marengo, Monroe, Sumter and 2 more97 min
Mar 26, 1:25 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw and 16 more35 min
Mar 26, 1:36 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler and 37 more9 hr
Mar 26, 3:40 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw and 17 more95 min
Mar 26, 6:01 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Clay and 15 more89 min
Mar 26, 5:56 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Mobile, Washington7 hr
Mar 26, 11:12 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson and 4 more63 min

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.