Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2009
Tornado Watch 90
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 28, 2009, 12:47 PM EDT for 28 counties in Georgia; 15 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 28, 2009, 12:47 PM EDT (16:47 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 28, 2009, 8:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 43 counties
Appling County, GA, Atkinson County, GA, Bacon County, GA, Brantley County, GA, Bryan County, GA, Bulloch County, GA, Burke County, GA, Camden County, GA, Candler County, GA, Charlton County, GA, Chatham County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Coffee County, GA, Echols County, GA, Effingham County, GA, Evans County, GA, Glynn County, GA, Jeff Davis County, GA, Jenkins County, GA, Liberty County, GA, Long County, GA, McIntosh County, GA, Pierce County, GA, Richmond County, GA, Screven County, GA, Tattnall County, GA, Ware County, GA, Wayne County, GA, Aiken County, SC, Allendale County, SC, Bamberg County, SC, Barnwell County, SC, Beaufort County, SC, Berkeley County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Charleston County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Colleton County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Hampton County, SC, Jasper County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Sumter County, SC
The radar
The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 60 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:50 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
- 20%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 10%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
17 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 28, 2:01 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Coffee, Jeff Davis | 44 min |
| Mar 28, 3:32 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Coffee, Jeff Davis | 43 min |
| Mar 28, 3:56 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | Colleton, Dorchester | 49 min |
| Mar 28, 4:01 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CHS | Bryan, Chatham, Effingham | 29 min |
| Mar 28, 4:12 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Appling, Bacon, Coffee, Jeff Davis, Wayne | 48 min |
| Mar 28, 4:26 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | Evans, Long, Tattnall | 64 min |
| Mar 28, 4:26 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, Hampton, Jasper | 34 min |
| Mar 28, 4:33 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Orangeburg | 57 min |
| Mar 28, 4:40 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester | 65 min |
| Mar 28, 4:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Appling, Bacon, Pierce, Wayne | 39 min |
| Mar 28, 4:57 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester | 33 min |
| Mar 28, 4:58 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Clarendon | 77 min |
| Mar 28, 5:05 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Clarendon, Orangeburg | 55 min |
| Mar 28, 5:34 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CHS | Liberty, Long, McIntosh | 41 min |
| Mar 28, 5:40 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham, Effingham, Liberty | 50 min |
| Mar 28, 5:43 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CHS | Bryan, Chatham, Liberty | 47 min |
| Mar 28, 5:47 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Atkinson, Clinch, Coffee, Jeff Davis, Ware | 43 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
Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 158 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
- 18 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -65 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 857 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 20 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 84 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 60 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
771
WWUS20 KWNS 281649
SEL0
SPC WW 281649
GAZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-290000-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 90
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1250 PM EDT SAT MAR 28 2009
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHEAST GEORGIA
CENTRAL AND COASTAL SOUTH CAROLINA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1250 PM UNTIL
800 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 65 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF
CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA TO 30 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF VALDOSTA
GEORGIA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU0).
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 89...
DISCUSSION...A LARGE CONVECTIVE CLUSTER WITH AN EMBEDDED MCV WILL
LIKELY PERSIST THROUGH THE AFTERNOON WHILE MOVING NEWD FROM GA INTO
SC. INSTABILITY IS NOT PARTICULARLY STRONG E OF THE ONGOING
STORMS...BUT SOME MOISTENING AND CONTINUED SURFACE HEATING SHOULD
RESULT IN SUFFICIENT DESTABILIZATION TO MAINTAIN THE CLUSTER. GIVEN
THE ORGANIZED BOWING SEGMENTS AND MODERATELY STRONG VERTICAL
SHEAR...A COUPLE OF TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE IN ADDITION TO
DAMAGING WINDS.
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 24035.
...THOMPSONSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 28, 2:17 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Decatur, Early, Miller, Seminole | 4 hr |
| Mar 28, 5:25 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Calhoun, Clay and 22 more | 35 min |
| Mar 28, 5:50 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Calhoun, Clay and 20 more | 5 hr |
| Mar 28, 7:48 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atkinson, Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley and 53 more | 57 min |
| Mar 28, 10:20 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baker, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley and 48 more | 8 hr |
| Mar 28, 11:51 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke and 21 more | 54 min |
| Mar 28, 3:19 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley and 29 more | 56 min |
| Mar 28, 4:53 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clarendon, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry and 4 more | 67 min |
| Mar 28, 5:38 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Marion and 2 more | 6 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2009Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 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.