Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2011

Tornado Watch 47

March 9, 20115 counties in Alabama; 13 counties in Florida; 26 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 9, 2011, 8:39 AM CST for 5 counties in Alabama; 13 counties in Florida; 26 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 9, 2011, 8:39 AM CST (14:39 UTC)
Expired
Mar 9, 2011, 4:00 PM CST
In force
7 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, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Baker County, GA, Ben Hill County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Clay County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Grady County, GA, Irwin County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Lee County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Tift County, GA, Turner County, GA, Worth County, GA

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
50%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
20%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 9, 9:44 AM CSTTornado WarningTAECoffee31 min
Mar 9, 10:05 AM CSTTornado WarningTAECoffee, Dale25 min
Mar 9, 10:11 AM CSTTornado WarningTAECoffee, Geneva34 min
Mar 9, 10:18 AM CSTTornado WarningTAEDale27 min
Mar 9, 10:37 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEGeneva38 min
Mar 9, 10:47 AM CSTTornado WarningTAEDale, Geneva, Houston28 min
Mar 9, 10:48 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEDale, Henry42 min
Mar 9, 11:04 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAECalhoun, Clay, Early, Quitman, Randolph41 min
Mar 9, 11:11 AM CSTTornado WarningTAEHenry15 min
Mar 9, 11:43 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBaker, Calhoun, Dougherty, Early, Lee, Randolph and 1 more47 min
Mar 9, 12:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEDougherty, Lee, Terrell, Worth43 min
Mar 9, 1:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBen Hill, Berrien, Irwin, Tift, Turner, Worth45 min
Mar 9, 1:17 PM CSTTornado WarningTAEColquitt, Tift, Worth28 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 12:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 102 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2011-03-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2011-03-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 348 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
611 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
348 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
471 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

212 
WWUS20 KWNS 091439
SEL7
SPC WW 091439
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-092200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 47
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
940 AM EST WED MAR 9 2011

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

       PARTS OF SOUTHEAST ALABAMA
       LARGE PART OF FLORIDA PANHANDLE
       PARTS OF SOUTHWEST GEORGIA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 940 AM UNTIL
500 PM 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 NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES NORTHWEST OF PANAMA
CITY FLORIDA TO 40 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF MOULTRIE GEORGIA.
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7).

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 46...

DISCUSSION...STRONG QLCS WITH EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS MOVING EWD ACROSS
SRN AL INTO FL PANHANDLE.  WITH VERY STRONG VEERING SHEAR PROFILES
AND SUFFICIENT MOIST GULF INFLOW...THREAT FOR BOTH DAMAGING WINDS
AND TORNADOES EXPECTED TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE QLCS AS IT
CONTINUES EWD THRU THE WATCH AREA.

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 26035.


...HALES

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 8, 7:37 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCChoctaw, Mobile, Washington7 hr
Mar 9, 1:28 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChoctaw, Mobile, Washington92 min
Mar 9, 2:39 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Mobile, Monroe, Washington and 1 more5 hr
Mar 9, 6:28 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChoctaw, Mobile, Washington92 min
Mar 9, 7:26 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Butler, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Escambia and 2 more6 hr
Mar 9, 8:32 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCoffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston28 min
Mar 9, 9:31 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Butler, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw and 7 more59 min
Mar 9, 11:09 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCEscambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa66 min
Mar 9, 12:38 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes and 7 more67 min
Mar 9, 1:04 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCNassau26 min
Mar 9, 3:14 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCMadison31 min
Mar 9, 1:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch and 29 more6 hr
Mar 9, 3:38 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrantley, Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Charlton, Chatham and 14 more67 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2011Tornado Watches in Florida, 2011Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2011Every tornado watch in 2011

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.