Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2009
Tornado Watch 85
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 28, 2009, 1:17 AM CDT for 5 counties in Alabama; 10 counties in Florida; 4 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 28, 2009, 1:17 AM CDT (06:17 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 28, 2009, 4:53 AM CDT
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Coffee County, AL, Dale County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Decatur County, GA, Early County, GA, Miller County, GA, Seminole County, GA
The radar
The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:19 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
3 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 28, 1:38 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Holmes, Walton | 39 min |
| Mar 28, 1:59 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Geneva | 31 min |
| Mar 28, 4:32 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Coffee, Dale | 28 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 00:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 138 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
- 1088 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 138 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 264 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
943
WWUS20 KWNS 280618
SEL5
SPC WW 280618
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-281300-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 85
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
120 AM CDT SAT MAR 28 2009
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
FAR SOUTHEAST ALABAMA
FLORIDA PANHANDLE
FAR SOUTHWEST GEORGIA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY MORNING FROM 120 AM UNTIL 800 AM CDT.
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 50 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF
DOTHAN ALABAMA TO 30 MILES SOUTH OF PANAMA CITY FLORIDA. FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU5).
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 82...WW 83...WW 84...
DISCUSSION...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL SPREAD GENERALLY EWD ACROSS
WW THROUGH THE NIGHT AS AIR MASS DESTABILIZES WITH INCREASING SLY
LOW LEVEL FLOW OFF OF THE GULF OF MEXICO. SHEAR WILL REMAIN MORE
THAN ADEQUATE FOR SUPERCELLS...WITH STEEP LAPSE RATES FOSTERING
LARGE HAIL POTENTIAL. ISOLATED TORNADO/WIND DAMAGE THREAT IS ALSO
POSSIBLE GIVEN VERY STRONG LOW LEVEL SHEAR AND CONTINUED
MOISTENING/DESTABILIZATION OF THE BOUNDARY LAYER OVERNIGHT.
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 25035.
...EVANSSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 27, 8:21 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Escambia, Mobile, Washington | 84 min |
| Mar 27, 10:09 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh and 16 more | 9 hr |
| Mar 27, 11:51 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh and 16 more | 84 min |
| Mar 28, 3:14 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 17 more | 61 min |
| Mar 28, 4:25 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler and 45 more | 35 min |
| Mar 28, 4:50 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh and 11 more | 5 hr |
| Mar 28, 4:59 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers and 24 more | 3 hr |
| Mar 28, 6:48 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Barbour, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw and 6 more | 57 min |
| Mar 28, 9:20 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston | 8 hr |
| Mar 28, 12:58 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Blount, Colbert, Cullman, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence and 5 more | 92 min |
| Mar 28, 2:23 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cullman, DeKalb, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone and 3 more | 7 hr |
| Mar 28, 5:18 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | DeKalb, Jackson, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, Morgan | 57 min |
| Mar 28, 2:19 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Hamilton, Jefferson and 5 more | 56 min |
| Mar 28, 10:51 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke and 21 more | 54 min |
| Mar 28, 11:47 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch and 22 more | 7 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Florida, 2009Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2009Tornado Watches in Georgia, 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.