Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2012

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 257

May 6, 201214 counties in Alabama; 17 counties in Florida; 23 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 6, 2012, 12:50 PM CDT for 14 counties in Alabama; 17 counties in Florida; 23 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 6, 2012, 12:50 PM CDT (17:50 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 2012, 5:47 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 54 counties

Baldwin County, AL, Butler County, AL, Clarke County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Monroe County, AL, Wilcox County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Escambia 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, Madison County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Baker 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, 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, Worth County, GA

The radar

The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 85 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:50 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
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
5%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 6, 1:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEClay, Quitman, Randolph, Terrell42 min
May 6, 1:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAECoffee, Dale, Henry, Houston49 min
May 6, 1:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBaker, Calhoun, Clay, Dougherty, Early, Lee and 3 more52 min
May 6, 1:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAELowndes29 min
May 6, 1:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAECoffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston48 min
May 6, 2:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEColquitt39 min
May 6, 2:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBaker, Calhoun, Dougherty, Lee, Mitchell, Worth49 min
May 6, 2:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBaker, Early, Miller46 min
May 6, 2:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEMitchell38 min
May 6, 2:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBrooks, Lowndes51 min
May 6, 3:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEColquitt, Mitchell, Thomas44 min
May 6, 3:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBrooks, Lowndes47 min
May 6, 3:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEDecatur, Grady, Seminole, Thomas46 min
May 6, 3:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEGadsden, Jackson27 min
May 6, 3:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBay, Calhoun, Jackson, Walton, Washington49 min
May 6, 4:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEGadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty38 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, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 216 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 2012-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 900 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 2012-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 9 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
900 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-74 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
859 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
7 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 6, 12:04 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee and 17 more86 min
May 6, 1:38 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCSumter2 hr
May 6, 4:41 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin64 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Georgia, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Florida, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Alabama, 2012Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2012

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.