Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2009

Tornado Watch 94

March 28, 20098 counties in Alabama; 13 counties in Georgia; 7 counties in Tennessee

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 28, 2009, 7:29 PM CDT for 8 counties in Alabama; 13 counties in Georgia; 7 counties in Tennessee. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 28, 2009, 7:29 PM CDT (00:29 UTC)
Expired
Mar 28, 2009, 11:00 PM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 28 counties

Calhoun County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Randolph County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Bartow County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Catoosa County, GA, Chattooga County, GA, Dade County, GA, Floyd County, GA, Gordon County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Murray County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Polk County, GA, Walker County, GA, Whitfield County, GA, Bledsoe County, TN, Bradley County, TN, Hamilton County, TN, Marion County, TN, Meigs County, TN, Rhea County, TN, Sequatchie County, TN

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:29 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 28, 7:47 PM CDTTornado WarningBMXCalhoun, Etowah, St. Clair17 min
Mar 28, 8:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBledsoe, Marion, Sequatchie66 min
Mar 28, 8:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Talladega22 min
Mar 28, 8:16 PM CDTTornado WarningFFCChattooga, Dade, Walker44 min
Mar 28, 8:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXCalhoun, Cherokee, Etowah29 min
Mar 28, 8:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCChattooga, Floyd, Polk59 min
Mar 28, 8:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCatoosa, Walker, Whitfield51 min
Mar 28, 9:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRXBledsoe, Rhea51 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, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 168 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 00:00Z on 2009-03-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 129 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 00:00Z on 2009-03-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 256 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
129 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
523 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
81 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
256 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
211 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
Mar 28, 7:21 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDeKalb, Jackson, Madison54 min
Mar 28, 9:42 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, DeKalb, Randolph63 min
Mar 28, 11:48 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrantley, Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Charlton, Chatham and 10 more87 min

Nearby

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