Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2011

Tornado Watch 833

September 4, 20115 counties in Alabama; 17 counties in Florida; 14 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 4, 2011, 11:41 AM CDT for 5 counties in Alabama; 17 counties in Florida; 14 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 10 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 4, 2011, 11:41 AM CDT (16:41 UTC)
Expired
Sep 4, 2011, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
10 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 36 counties

Coffee County, AL, Dale County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Dixie County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Lafayette County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Madison County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Baker 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, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Thomas County, GA

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:45 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
50%
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
5%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 4, 4:03 PM CDTTornado WarningTAETaylor27 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, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 77 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 2011-09-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1223 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2011-09-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 95 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1223 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
468 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
95 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

840 
WWUS20 KWNS 041640
SEL3  
SPC WW 041640
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-050300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 833
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1240 PM EDT SUN SEP 4 2011

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

       EXTREME SOUTHEAST ALABAMA
       FLORIDA PANHANDLE
       SOUTHWEST GEORGIA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1240 PM UNTIL
1100 PM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 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 85 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES NORTHWEST OF ALBANY
GEORGIA TO 25 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF APALACHICOLA FLORIDA.  FOR
A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).

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 832...

DISCUSSION...BANDS OF TSTMS HAVE CONTINUED TO EVOLVE WELL-DOWNSTREAM
OF THE CENTER OF TS LEE WITHIN A SECONDARY SLY LLJ MAX AND AMIDST
MODEST DIABATIC HEATING.  TLH PROFILER AND DIAGNOSTIC DATA INDICATE
THAT LLVL SHEAR PROFILES WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE THROUGH THE
AFTN/EVE WITH POTENTIAL FOR SHALLOW SUPERCELLS AND ATTENDANT BRIEF
TORNADO RISK.  ACTIVITY WILL SPREAD NWD INTO SWRN GA WITH TIME AS
LEE BECOMES ELONGATED AND WIND FIELDS EXPAND FARTHER DOWNSTREAM.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 17025.


...RACY

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 3, 9:43 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Covington and 6 more9 hr
Sep 3, 11:35 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Escambia, Mobile, Washington115 min
Sep 4, 4:30 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe and 1 more60 min
Sep 4, 5:05 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh and 8 more11 hr
Sep 4, 9:50 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh and 12 more85 min
Sep 4, 2:47 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw and 26 more88 min
Sep 4, 3:47 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh and 13 more6 hr
Sep 4, 6:29 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw and 22 more2 hr
Sep 4, 11:27 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalhoun, Gadsden, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and 2 more33 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Florida, 2011Tornado Watches in Georgia, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.