Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2012

Tornado Watch 590

August 26, 201223 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Aug 26, 2012, 11:24 PM EDT for 23 counties in Florida. It was in force for 12 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 26, 2012, 11:24 PM EDT (03:24 UTC)
Expired
Aug 27, 2012, 11:00 AM EDT
In force
12 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 23 counties

Brevard County, FL, Broward County, FL, Charlotte County, FL, Collier County, FL, DeSoto County, FL, Glades County, FL, Hardee County, FL, Hendry County, FL, Highlands County, FL, Hillsborough County, FL, Indian River County, FL, Lee County, FL, Manatee County, FL, Martin County, FL, Miami-Dade County, FL, Monroe County, FL, Okeechobee County, FL, Osceola County, FL, Palm Beach County, FL, Pinellas County, FL, Polk County, FL, Saint Lucie County, FL, Sarasota County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 126 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:27 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
10%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
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
30%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 27, 12:36 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBMartin, Okeechobee54 min
Aug 27, 12:47 AM EDTTornado WarningMLBOkeechobee28 min
Aug 27, 1:51 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningMFLPalm Beach9 hr
Aug 27, 4:13 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBBrevard, Orange, Osceola42 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

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 00:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 126 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 00:00Z on 2012-08-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 275 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 00:00Z on 2012-08-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 113 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
275 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-34 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
782 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
163 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

485 
WWUS20 KWNS 270331
SEL0
SPC WW 270331
FLZ000-CWZ000-271300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 590
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1125 PM EDT SUN AUG 26 2012

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

       SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL FLORIDA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING FROM 1125 PM UNTIL
900 AM 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 EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES NORTH OF SARASOTA
FLORIDA TO 20 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF MIAMI FLORIDA.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU0).

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.

DISCUSSION...LOW LVL DIRECTIONAL AND SPEED SHEAR HAVE INCREASED
SOMEWHAT OVER THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS ALONG THE SE FL CST. TSTMS ARE
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FORMING IN LOW LVL CONFLUENCE BAND ARCING NW TO
SE ACROSS THE REGION IN ASSOCIATION WITH T.S. ISSAC. ANOTHER BAND
MAY EVOLVE LATER TNGT/EARLY MON ALONG THE SW FL CST. WITH ISAAC
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE WNW OVERNIGHT FROM ITS CURRENT POSITION OFF THE
SW FL CST...AN AXIS OF INCREASING RICH THETA-E MAY SPREAD NWWD
ACROSS THE SRN THIRD OF THE PENINSULA. COUPLED WITH STRENGTHENING
LOW LVL SHEAR...SETUP MAY FOSTER ISOLD TORNADOES...MAINLY ALONG THE
PREVIOUSLY-MENTIONED CONFLUENCE BANDS.

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
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 15045.


...CORFIDI

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 26, 10:44 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBroward, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hendry and 4 more2 hr
Aug 27, 3:44 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBroward, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee and 16 more2 hr
Aug 27, 7:26 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrevard, Citrus, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hernando, Indian River and 13 more3 hr
Aug 27, 7:55 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBroward, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee and 16 more95 min
Aug 27, 11:54 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCIndian River, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Saint Lucie and 3 more2 hr
Aug 27, 2:28 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCitrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough and 6 more92 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Florida, 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.