Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2014
Tornado Watch 555
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 17, 2014, 10:57 AM EST for 11 counties in Florida; 20 counties in Georgia; 29 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Nov 17, 2014, 10:57 AM EST (15:57 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 17, 2014, 3:08 PM EST
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 60 counties
Alachua County, FL, Baker County, FL, Bradford County, FL, Clay County, FL, Duval County, FL, Flagler County, FL, Gilchrist County, FL, Nassau County, FL, Putnam County, FL, Saint Johns County, FL, Union County, FL, Brantley County, GA, Bryan County, GA, Bulloch County, GA, Burke County, GA, Camden County, GA, Candler County, GA, Charlton County, GA, Chatham County, GA, Effingham County, GA, Evans County, GA, Glynn County, GA, Jenkins County, GA, Liberty County, GA, Long County, GA, McIntosh County, GA, Pierce County, GA, Richmond County, GA, Screven County, GA, Tattnall County, GA, Wayne County, GA, Aiken County, SC, Allendale County, SC, Bamberg County, SC, Barnwell County, SC, Beaufort County, SC, Berkeley County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Charleston County, SC, Chester County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Colleton County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Hampton County, SC, Jasper County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Richland County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Union County, SC, York County, SC
The radar
The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 127 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:59 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
- 40%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 50%
- 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
- 80%
Warnings issued inside it
11 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 17, 11:57 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Atkinson, Clinch, Pierce, Ware | 48 min |
| Nov 17, 12:06 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Gilchrist, Suwannee and 1 more | 54 min |
| Nov 17, 12:11 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | Bulloch, Screven | 64 min |
| Nov 17, 12:43 PM EST | Tornado Warning | JAX | Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Union | 32 min |
| Nov 17, 12:43 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | Bulloch, Effingham, Screven | 30 min |
| Nov 17, 12:47 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Duval, Gilchrist and 2 more | 58 min |
| Nov 17, 1:06 PM EST | Tornado Warning | JAX | Clay, Duval | 54 min |
| Nov 17, 1:19 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Nassau | 26 min |
| Nov 17, 1:22 PM EST | Tornado Warning | JAX | Nassau | 23 min |
| Nov 17, 1:25 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Alachua, Bradford, Clay, Flagler, Marion, Putnam and 1 more | 65 min |
| Nov 17, 2:28 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Flagler, Marion, Putnam, Saint Johns | 32 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
Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 12:00Z, 4.0 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 177 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -77 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 703 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 58 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 214 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 231 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
706 WWUS20 KWNS 171600 SEL5 SPC WW 171600 FLZ000-GAZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-172300- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 555 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 1100 AM EST MON NOV 17 2014 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST FLORIDA EASTERN GEORGIA SOUTH CAROLINA COASTAL WATERS * EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY MORNING AND EVENING FROM 1100 AM UNTIL 600 PM EST. * PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE... A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE SCATTERED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GAINESVILLE FLORIDA TO 65 MILES NORTHWEST OF FLORENCE SOUTH CAROLINA. 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 553...WW 554... DISCUSSION...BROKEN SQLN IMMEDIATELY AHEAD OF CNTRL/NE GA COLD FRONT...AND SCTD STORMS ALONG PRE-FRONTAL CONFLUENCE BAND OVER SE GA...EXPECTED TO PERSIST AND POSSIBLY SLIGHTLY INCREASE THROUGH THE AFTN IN RESPONSE TO MODEST SFC HEATING AND CONTINUED LOW-LVL MOISTURE RETURN. 60-70 KT SWLY DEEP SHEAR...WITH LARGELY UNIDIRECTIONAL FLOW...MAY SUPPORT SCTD LEWPS/EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS WITH A SPORADIC THREAT FOR LOCALLY WIND AND TORNADOES. 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 24040. ...CORFIDI
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 17, 12:50 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Escambia, Santa Rosa | 55 min |
| Nov 17, 2:13 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf and 12 more | 32 min |
| Nov 17, 2:32 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf and 9 more | 7 hr |
| Nov 17, 5:39 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden and 14 more | 66 min |
| Nov 17, 6:11 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Columbia, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Hamilton, Jefferson and 7 more | 8 hr |
| Nov 17, 8:43 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Columbia, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden and 15 more | 92 min |
| Nov 17, 12:14 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brevard, Citrus, Dixie, Flagler, Hernando, Hillsborough and 11 more | 2 hr |
| Nov 17, 12:30 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Brevard, Charlotte, Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando and 16 more | 6 hr |
| Nov 17, 3:10 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Manatee and 5 more | 65 min |
| Nov 17, 9:56 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Chowan, Columbus and 19 more | 2 hr |
| Nov 17, 10:26 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan and 20 more | 7 hr |
| Nov 17, 1:19 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 17 more | 116 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2014Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2014Tornado Watches in Florida, 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.