Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2012
Tornado Watch 12
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 23, 2012, 8:49 AM EST for 30 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jan 23, 2012, 8:49 AM EST (13:49 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 23, 2012, 1:38 PM EST
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 30 counties
Bibb County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Crawford County, GA, Crisp County, GA, Dooly County, GA, Harris County, GA, Heard County, GA, Houston County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lee County, GA, Macon County, GA, Marion County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pike County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Schley County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Troup County, GA, Upson County, GA, Webster County, GA
The radar
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:52 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
- 30%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 20%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 5%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 10%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 40%
Warnings issued inside it
1 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 23, 9:40 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Heard, Troup | 50 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 12:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 73 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 463 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 48 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 492 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 722 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
148
WWUS20 KWNS 231355
SEL2
SPC WW 231355
GAZ000-232100-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 12
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
850 AM EST MON JAN 23 2012
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST GEORGIA
EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 850 AM UNTIL 400
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 55 STATUTE
MILES EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF
COLUMBUS GEORGIA TO 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF MACON GEORGIA. FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).
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 11...
DISCUSSION...A SMALL AREA OF W CNTRL GA MAY HAVE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLD
TORNADOES LATER THIS MORNING THROUGH EARLY THIS AFTN AS REGION
REMAINS BENEATH SRN FRINGE OF STRONG WIND FIELD ASSOCIATED WITH
DEPARTING NEGATIVE TILT UPR TROUGH. THE AREA OF GREATEST RISK FOR
TORNADOES SHOULD FOCUS BETWEEN EXISTING SW-NE BAND OF STORMS NOW
NEARING MGM...AND CONFLUENCE BAND MARKING ERN EDGE OF RICH MOISTURE
RETURN ATTM EXTENDING SSW FROM NEAR CSG. THE STORMS SHOULD CONTINUE
TO MOVE/DEVELOP ENEWD AS THE MOISTURE DISCONTINUITY DRIFTS SLOWLY E
WITH TIME. MODEST SFC HEATING MAY COMPENSATE FOR DIMINISHING WIND
FIELD AND FORCING FOR ASCENT TO MAINTAIN AT LEAST A CONDITIONAL SVR
RISK S AND W OF WEDGE AIR MASS FIRMLY ENTRENCHED OVER CNTRL/ERN GA.
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 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25040.
...CORFIDISPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 23, 2:25 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Walker | 2 hr |
| Jan 23, 3:44 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bartow, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd and 9 more | 9 hr |
| Jan 23, 5:02 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Haralson and 3 more | 118 min |
| Jan 23, 7:38 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Carroll, Coweta, Douglas, Floyd, Haralson, Harris and 7 more | 97 min |
| Jan 23, 12:30 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bibb, Bleckley, Chattahoochee, Crawford, Dooly, Harris and 14 more | 2 hr |
Nearby
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.