Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2015

Tornado Watch 553

November 18, 20155 counties in Alabama; 12 counties in Florida; 37 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 18, 2015, 2:16 PM CST for 5 counties in Alabama; 12 counties in Florida; 37 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Nov 18, 2015, 2:16 PM CST (20:16 UTC)
Expired
Nov 18, 2015, 8:00 PM CST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 54 counties

Coffee County, AL, Dale County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Baker County, GA, Bibb County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Clay County, GA, Crawford County, GA, Crisp County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dooly County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Grady County, GA, Harris County, GA, Houston County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lee County, GA, Macon County, GA, Marion County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pike County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Schley County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Troup County, GA, Upson County, GA, Webster County, GA

The radar

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:20 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
10%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 18, 3:09 PM CSTTornado WarningTAEFranklin, Gulf51 min
Nov 18, 4:04 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAECalhoun, Franklin, Liberty26 min
Nov 18, 4:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEGadsden, Liberty44 min
Nov 18, 4:49 PM CSTTornado WarningTAEGadsden41 min
Nov 18, 5:14 PM CSTTornado Warning Tornado observedTAEGadsden34 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

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 108 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 12:00Z on 2015-11-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 5 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 12:00Z on 2015-11-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 219 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
5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-62 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
674 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
219 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
261 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 18, 1:14 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChoctaw, Clarke, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Lamar and 8 more2 hr
Nov 18, 2:49 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Greene, Hale, Marengo and 4 more6 hr
Nov 18, 5:21 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Dallas, Fayette, Greene and 9 more114 min
Nov 18, 7:22 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Clarke and 14 more83 min
Nov 18, 8:25 AM CSTTornado WatchSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Clarke and 22 more8 hr
Nov 18, 10:51 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Coffee and 17 more114 min
Nov 18, 1:39 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Geneva and 3 more2 hr
Nov 18, 5:35 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFranklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and 1 more115 min
Nov 18, 12:17 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBartow, Butts, Carroll, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta and 18 more88 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2015Tornado Watches in Florida, 2015Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2015Every tornado watch in 2015

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.