Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2014

Tornado Watch 562

December 23, 201419 counties in Florida; 40 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 23, 2014, 10:55 PM CST for 19 counties in Florida; 40 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 9 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 23, 2014, 10:55 PM CST (04:55 UTC)
Expired
Dec 24, 2014, 7:59 AM CST
In force
9 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 59 counties

Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Dixie County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Hamilton County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Lafayette County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Madison County, FL, Suwannee County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Atkinson County, GA, Baker County, GA, Ben Hill County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Coffee County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Crisp County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dodge County, GA, Dooly County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Echols County, GA, Grady County, GA, Irwin County, GA, Jeff Davis County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Lee County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, Macon County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Montgomery County, GA, Pulaski County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Schley County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Telfair County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Tift County, GA, Turner County, GA, Wheeler County, GA, Wilcox County, GA, Worth County, GA

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:56 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
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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 24, 12:04 AM CSTFlash Flood Warning EmergencyTAEHolmes, Walton3 hr
Dec 24, 12:50 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningTAEClay, Early3 hr
Dec 24, 1:51 AM CSTTornado WarningTAEBaker, Early, Miller, Seminole4 min
Dec 24, 2:12 AM CSTTornado WarningTAEBaker, Calhoun, Clay, Early, Miller, Randolph33 min
Dec 24, 2:56 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningTAEHolmes, Walton3 hr
Dec 24, 3:04 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBaker, Dougherty, Lee, Mitchell, Terrell, Worth41 min
Dec 24, 3:08 AM CSTTornado WarningTAEHolmes, Jackson, Washington22 min
Dec 24, 3:43 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningTAEEarly3 hr
Dec 24, 4:11 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBaker, Dougherty, Lee, Terrell, Worth49 min
Dec 24, 5:59 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningTAECalhoun, Gadsden, Jackson, Liberty3 hr
Dec 24, 6:09 AM CSTTornado WarningTAEColquitt, Dougherty, Mitchell, Worth36 min
Dec 24, 6:44 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningFFCCrisp4 hr
Dec 24, 7:15 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningTAEGadsden, Leon, Liberty, Wakulla3 hr

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 00:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 95 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2014-12-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2014-12-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 397 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
509 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
397 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
547 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

075 
WWUS20 KWNS 240453
SEL2  
SPC WW 240453
FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-241200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 562
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1155 PM EST TUE DEC 23 2014

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  NORTHERN FLORIDA INCLUDING THE PANHANDLE
  SOUTHWEST GEORGIA
  COASTAL WATERS

* EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 1155 PM
  UNTIL 700 AM EST.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED 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 75 MILES NORTHEAST OF ALBANY
GEORGIA TO 15 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF APALACHICOLA FLORIDA.  FOR
A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).

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 561...

DISCUSSION...A PRE-FRONTAL BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL PERSIST
OVERNIGHT...GRADUALLY SHIFTING EAST ACROSS THE WATCH AREA. GIVEN THE
CONTINUED MOISTENING OF THE AIR MASS AND THE PRESENCE OF STRONG
VERTICAL SHEAR...THE POTENTIAL WILL EXIST FOR EMBEDDED BOWING AND
SUPERCELL STRUCTURES WITH A RISK FOR LOCALLY DAMAGING WINDS AND
PERHAPS A TORNADO OR TWO.

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 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22040.


...MEAD

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 23, 7:03 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Calhoun, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden and 14 more87 min
Dec 23, 10:22 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Calhoun, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf and 11 more53 min
Dec 24, 2:10 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Calhoun, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf and 13 more2 hr
Dec 24, 4:02 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Bay, Calhoun, Columbia, Dixie, Franklin and 16 more118 min
Dec 24, 5:32 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCBaker, Bay, Calhoun, Columbia, Dixie, Franklin and 13 more7 hr
Dec 24, 7:50 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden and 13 more115 min

Nearby

Tornado 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.