Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Watches in 2012
Tornado Watch 47
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 29, 2012, 8:27 AM EST for 12 counties in Kentucky; 8 counties in Ohio. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 29, 2012, 8:27 AM EST (13:27 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 29, 2012, 1:00 PM EST
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Boone County, KY, Bracken County, KY, Campbell County, KY, Carroll County, KY, Gallatin County, KY, Grant County, KY, Kenton County, KY, Lewis County, KY, Mason County, KY, Owen County, KY, Pendleton County, KY, Robertson County, KY, Adams County, OH, Brown County, OH, Clermont County, OH, Hamilton County, OH, Highland County, OH, Pike County, OH, Ross County, OH, Scioto County, OH
The radar
The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:30 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
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 10%
- 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
- 70%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 29, 8:43 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN | Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Owen | 36 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
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 61 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
- 18 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -228 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 454 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 56 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 791 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 857 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
054
WWUS20 KWNS 291326
SEL7
SPC WW 291326
KYZ000-OHZ000-291800-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 47
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
830 AM EST WED FEB 29 2012
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHERN KENTUCKY
SOUTHERN OHIO
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 830 AM UNTIL
100 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 65 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF
CINCINNATI OHIO TO 55 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF CINCINNATI OHIO.
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 44...WW 45...WW 46...
DISCUSSION...NE/SW SQLN OVER SRN IND/CNTRL KY EXPECTED TO CONTINUE E
AT ABOUT 50 KTS. ASSOCIATED EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS MAY CONTINUE POSE
RISK FOR ISOLD TORNADOES AND DMGG WIND...DESPITE MARGINAL DEGREE OF
SFC-BASED INSTABILITY...GIVEN VERY STRONG LOW TO MID TROPOSPHERIC
FLOW/SHEAR.
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 400.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26050.
...CORFIDISPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 29, 1:49 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ballard, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden and 16 more | 56 min |
| Feb 29, 2:14 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Ballard, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden and 16 more | 11 hr |
| Feb 29, 3:40 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adair, Allen, Anderson, Barren, Bath, Boone and 63 more | 65 min |
| Feb 29, 4:53 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ballard, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden and 16 more | 97 min |
| Feb 29, 5:39 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adair, Allen, Anderson, Barren, Bath, Bourbon and 54 more | 7 hr |
| Feb 29, 8:38 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adair, Allen, Anderson, Barren, Bath, Boone and 70 more | 67 min |
| Feb 29, 9:07 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden, Fulton and 12 more | 53 min |
| Feb 29, 12:11 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adair, Allen, Anderson, Barren, Bath, Bell and 61 more | 2 hr |
| Feb 29, 12:31 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adair, Allen, Barren, Bath, Bell, Boyle and 59 more | 8 hr |
| Feb 29, 12:41 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton and 2 more | 3 hr |
| Feb 29, 1:24 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Boyd, Greenup, Lawrence | 36 min |
| Feb 29, 1:37 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Boyd, Carter, Greenup, Lawrence, Lewis, Mason | 7 hr |
| Feb 29, 4:18 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Boyd, Carter, Greenup, Lawrence, Lewis | 87 min |
| Feb 29, 4:34 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adair, Allen, Barren, Bath, Bell, Boyle and 48 more | 116 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Kentucky, 2012Tornado Watches in Ohio, 2012Every tornado 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.