Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2013

Tornado Watch 577

November 26, 201319 counties in Georgia; 6 counties in North Carolina; 16 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 26, 2013, 5:40 PM EST for 19 counties in Georgia; 6 counties in North Carolina; 16 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Nov 26, 2013, 5:40 PM EST (22:40 UTC)
Expired: Nov 27, 2013, 1:00 AM EST
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected: 0.5 in
Strongest gust expected: 65 kt

All 41 counties

Appling County, GA, Atkinson County, GA, Bacon County, GA, Brantley County, GA, Bryan County, GA, Bulloch County, GA, Camden County, GA, Chatham County, GA, Coffee County, GA, Effingham County, GA, Evans County, GA, Glynn County, GA, Jeff Davis County, GA, Liberty County, GA, Long County, GA, McIntosh County, GA, Pierce County, GA, Tattnall County, GA, Wayne County, GA, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Columbus County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Pender County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Bamberg County, SC, Beaufort County, SC, Berkeley County, SC, Charleston County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Colleton County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Hampton County, SC, Horry County, SC, Jasper County, SC, Marion County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:40 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: 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: 60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 26, 6:53 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Bryan, Chatham, Effingham, Liberty, Long	52 min
Nov 26, 7:47 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Bladen	58 min
Nov 26, 9:45 PM EST	Tornado Warning	ILM	Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Pender	45 min
Nov 26, 11:42 PM EST	Tornado Warning	ILM	Pender	33 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

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 80 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 569 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 280 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 389 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

118 
WWUS20 KWNS 262243
SEL7  
SPC WW 262243
GAZ000-NCZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-270600-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 577
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
540 PM EST TUE NOV 26 2013

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  SOUTHEASTERN GEORGIA
  SOUTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
  EASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA
  COASTAL WATERS

* EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 540
  PM UNTIL 100 AM EST.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  SEVERAL TORNADOES POSSIBLE
  SEVERAL DAMAGING WIND GUSTS WITH A FEW SIGNIFICANT GUSTS TO 75
    MPH POSSIBLE

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF
WAYCROSS GEORGIA TO 40 MILES NORTHWEST OF WILMINGTON NORTH
CAROLINA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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 576...

DISCUSSION...AMIDST FAVORABLE HODOGRAPHS AND DEEP-SHEAR
ENVIRONMENT...LOW-LEVEL AIR MASS FCST TO DESTABILIZE ENOUGH TO YIELD
AT LEAST MRGLLY FAVORABLE BUOYANCY ACROSS WW AREA...FROM
SW-NE...THROUGH REMAINDER EVENING.  SEVERAL SUPERCELLS AND SMALL
BOWS ARE POSSIBLE WITH TORNADO AND DAMAGING-WIND RISKS.  REF SPC
MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 2044 FOR ADDITIONAL NEAR-TERM DETAILS.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 65 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23035.


...EDWARDS

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 26, 1:18 PM EST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Baker, Berrien, Brooks, Clinch, Colquitt, Cook and 10 more	87 min
Nov 26, 3:01 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Charlton, Clinch and 15 more	7 hr
Nov 26, 3:43 PM EST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham, Effingham, Evans, Liberty and 2 more	2 hr
Nov 26, 3:39 AM EST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke and 14 more	4 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2013 Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2013 Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2013 Every tornado watch in 2013

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.