Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2014

Tornado Watch 5

January 11, 201426 counties in Georgia; 8 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 11, 2014, 1:51 PM EST for 26 counties in Georgia; 8 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jan 11, 2014, 1:51 PM EST (18:51 UTC)
Expired
Jan 11, 2014, 5:15 PM EST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 34 counties

Appling County, GA, Atkinson County, GA, Bacon County, GA, Brantley County, GA, Bryan County, GA, Bulloch County, GA, Camden County, GA, Candler County, GA, Charlton County, GA, Chatham County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Coffee County, GA, Echols County, GA, Effingham County, GA, Evans County, GA, Glynn County, GA, Jeff Davis County, GA, Jenkins County, GA, Liberty County, GA, Long County, GA, McIntosh County, GA, Pierce County, GA, Screven County, GA, Tattnall County, GA, Ware County, GA, Wayne County, GA, Allendale County, SC, Beaufort County, SC, Berkeley County, SC, Charleston County, SC, Colleton County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Hampton County, SC, Jasper County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 55 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:52 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
10%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
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
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 11, 2:21 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBulloch, Candler, Evans, Tattnall39 min
Jan 11, 2:37 PM ESTTornado WarningCHSBulloch, Candler38 min
Jan 11, 2:45 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXEchols45 min
Jan 11, 3:19 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSLiberty, Long, McIntosh41 min
Jan 11, 3:24 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXCharlton, Clinch, Ware21 min
Jan 11, 3:25 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXWayne20 min
Jan 11, 3:30 PM ESTTornado WarningCHSLiberty, Long45 min
Jan 11, 3:47 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXCamden, Charlton, Ware58 min
Jan 11, 3:55 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBeaufort, Colleton, Dorchester, Jasper50 min
Jan 11, 4:07 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBerkeley38 min
Jan 11, 4:26 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBerkeley, Charleston, Dorchester64 min
Jan 11, 4:32 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBeaufort, Charleston, Colleton, Jasper58 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, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 147 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2014-01-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 496 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2014-01-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 144 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
496 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
472 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
149 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

487 
WWUS20 KWNS 111850
SEL5  
SPC WW 111850
GAZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-120100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 5
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
150 PM EST SAT JAN 11 2014

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  SOUTHEAST GEORGIA
  SOUTHERN SOUTH CAROLINA
  COASTAL WATERS

* EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 150 PM UNTIL
  800 PM EST.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  SEVERAL TORNADOES POSSIBLE
  SEVERAL DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 65 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES NORTHWEST OF
CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA TO 40 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF WAYCROSS
GEORGIA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU5).

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 1...WW 2...WW 3...WW 4...

DISCUSSION...A PRE-FRONTAL BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO
SPREAD EWD THROUGH THE AFTERNOON/EVENING...IN ADVANCE OF A STRONG
MIDLEVEL TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT.  A FEW DAMAGING GUSTS
SHOULD BE THE MAIN THREAT WITH THE STRONGER STORMS EMBEDDED IN THE
BAND.  OTHERWISE...A TORNADO OR TWO WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH
CIRCULATIONS IN THE BAND...OR WITH MORE DISCRETE SUPERCELLS AHEAD OF
THE LINE.

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
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24045.


...THOMPSON

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 11, 8:03 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Baldwin, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Calhoun and 53 more27 min
Jan 11, 8:07 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Chattahoochee and 63 more7 hr
Jan 11, 9:22 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHart23 min
Jan 11, 9:30 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCColumbia, Elbert, Lincoln, McDuffie6 hr
Jan 11, 11:04 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBaker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Calhoun, Clay and 20 more6 hr
Jan 11, 11:50 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCBurke, Richmond6 hr
Jan 11, 12:17 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAppling, Bacon, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Bleckley, Bryan and 32 more58 min
Jan 11, 1:53 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Calhoun, Clay and 23 more97 min
Jan 11, 2:04 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCRichmond56 min
Jan 11, 3:35 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrantley, Bryan, Camden, Charlton, Chatham, Effingham and 8 more55 min
Jan 11, 11:12 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalhoun, Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Kershaw, Lancaster and 6 more63 min
Jan 11, 2:13 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCGeorgetown, Horry, Williamsburg5 hr
Jan 11, 4:37 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBerkeley, Charleston, Georgetown, Horry53 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2014Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2014Every tornado watch in 2014

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.