Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2009
Tornado Watch 802
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 9, 2009, 3:32 AM CST for 5 counties in Alabama; 70 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 9, 2009, 3:32 AM CST (09:32 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 9, 2009, 9:00 AM CST
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 75 counties
Coffee County, AL, Dale County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Baker County, GA, Baldwin County, GA, Ben Hill County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Bibb County, GA, Bleckley County, GA, Butts County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Clarke County, GA, Clay County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Crawford County, GA, Crisp County, GA, Dooly County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Emanuel County, GA, Greene County, GA, Hancock County, GA, Harris County, GA, Henry County, GA, Houston County, GA, Irwin County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Jones County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lee County, GA, Macon County, GA, Marion County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Montgomery County, GA, Morgan County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Newton County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Oglethorpe County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pike County, GA, Pulaski County, GA, Putnam County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph 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, Terrell County, GA, Tift County, GA, Toombs County, GA, Treutlen County, GA, Turner County, GA, Twiggs County, GA, Upson County, GA, Walton County, GA, Warren County, GA, Washington County, GA, Webster County, GA, Wheeler County, GA, Wilcox County, GA, Wilkinson County, GA, Worth County, GA
The radar
The Robins AFB radar (KJGX), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:34 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
- 40%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 20%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 10%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
11 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 9, 3:33 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Clarke, Jackson, Madison, Oconee, Oglethorpe | 43 min |
| Dec 9, 4:17 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Greene, Hancock, Putnam, Taliaferro | 28 min |
| Dec 9, 4:43 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Clay, Quitman, Randolph | 17 min |
| Dec 9, 4:44 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Hancock, Taliaferro, Warren, Wilkes | 31 min |
| Dec 9, 4:49 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Henry | 26 min |
| Dec 9, 4:50 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Sumter, Webster | 25 min |
| Dec 9, 6:04 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Lee, Worth | 41 min |
| Dec 9, 6:08 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Crisp, Wilcox | 52 min |
| Dec 9, 6:28 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Calhoun, Clay, Early, Randolph, Terrell | 32 min |
| Dec 9, 6:29 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Dodge, Laurens, Treutlen | 46 min |
| Dec 9, 6:48 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Dougherty, Lee, Terrell | 42 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 00:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 95 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
- 449 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 0 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 0 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 0 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
921
WWUS20 KWNS 090933
SEL2
SPC WW 090933
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-091400-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 802
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
430 AM EST WED DEC 9 2009
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN ALABAMA
PORTIONS OF THE WRN FLORIDA PANHANDLE
CENTRAL AND SOUTHWESTERN GEORGIA
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 430 AM UNTIL 900 AM 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 65 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF
MACON GEORGIA TO 25 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF DOTHAN ALABAMA. FOR
A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).
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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 800. WATCH NUMBER 800 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER
430 AM EST. CONTINUE...WW 801...
DISCUSSION...STORMS CONTINUE TO SHIFT RAPIDLY EWD AT 55 TO 65 KT
FROM AL INTO GA. THE STORMS HAVE FORMED INTO SMALL LINES AND GIVEN
THE STRONG ENVIRONMENTAL WINDS AND RAPID MOTION OF STORMS...WIND
DAMAGE APPEARS TO BE THE PRIMARY THREAT. HOWEVER...VERY STRONG
DEEP/LOW LEVEL SHEAR WILL SUPPORT ROTATING STORMS AND A POTENTIAL
FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES.
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 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25055.
...IMYSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 8, 6:12 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bibb, Blount, Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Fayette and 15 more | 8 hr |
| Dec 8, 9:47 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bibb, Blount, Choctaw, Clarke, Colbert, Cullman and 18 more | 88 min |
| Dec 8, 10:24 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa and 10 more | 96 min |
| Dec 8, 11:09 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton and 17 more | 5 hr |
| Dec 9, 2:20 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Coffee, Conecuh and 16 more | 85 min |
| Dec 9, 5:11 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Burke, Columbia, Richmond | 4 hr |
| Dec 9, 7:15 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Ben Hill, Candler, Coffee, Colquitt, Decatur and 13 more | 60 min |
| Dec 9, 10:29 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brantley, Brooks, Charlton, Clinch, Echols, Lanier and 3 more | 91 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Georgia, 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.