Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2015

Tornado Watch 568

December 24, 201511 counties in Alabama; 28 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 24, 2015, 4:09 AM CST for 11 counties in Alabama; 28 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 24, 2015, 4:09 AM CST (10:09 UTC)
Expired
Dec 24, 2015, 11:00 AM CST
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 39 counties

Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Dale County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Lee County, AL, Macon County, AL, Pike County, AL, Russell County, AL, Bibb County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Clay County, GA, Crawford County, GA, Early County, GA, Harris County, GA, Houston County, GA, Jones County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Macon County, GA, Marion County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pike County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Schley County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Twiggs County, GA, Upson County, GA, Webster County, GA

The radar

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:11 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
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
30%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 24, 4:31 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXBarbour, Bullock59 min
Dec 24, 7:40 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXBarbour, Bullock, Pike, Russell3 hr
Dec 24, 7:44 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningFFCChattahoochee6 hr
Dec 24, 7:46 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningTAECoffee89 min
Dec 24, 8:15 AM CSTTornado WarningTAEDale30 min
Dec 24, 8:40 AM CSTTornado WarningBMXBarbour35 min
Dec 24, 8:42 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningFFCClayton, Coweta, Fayette, Fulton, Meriwether6 hr
Dec 24, 8:53 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXElmore, Lee, Macon, Montgomery, Tallapoosa4 hr
Dec 24, 10:17 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXBullock, Chambers, Lee, Macon, Montgomery, Pike and 1 more3 hr
Dec 24, 10:35 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChambers, Lee14 min
Dec 24, 10:42 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningBMXBarbour, Bullock, Pike, Russell3 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, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 182 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 2015-12-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 61 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 2015-12-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 199 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
61 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-232 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1244 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
199 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
285 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 23, 6:35 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCColbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison and 1 more55 min
Dec 23, 7:41 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Lamar and 8 more2 hr
Dec 23, 8:20 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCBibb, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Lamar and 7 more8 hr
Dec 23, 10:11 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah and 12 more2 hr
Dec 23, 10:33 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCCullman, DeKalb, Jackson, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison and 2 more5 hr
Dec 24, 3:10 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAutauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Coffee and 19 more2 hr
Dec 24, 3:27 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton and 16 more93 min
Dec 24, 7:07 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarbour, Bullock, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Henry and 2 more83 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 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.