Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2015
Tornado Watch 576
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 28, 2015, 11:04 AM CST for 10 counties in Alabama; 13 counties in Florida; 5 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 28, 2015, 11:04 AM CST (17:04 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 28, 2015, 6:00 PM CST
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 28 counties
Butler County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Conecuh County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Escambia County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Escambia County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Santa Rosa County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Clay County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Early County, GA, Miller County, GA, Seminole County, GA
The radar
The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:12 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
- 20%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 10%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 60%
Warnings issued inside it
7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 28, 11:37 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Butler, Crenshaw | 26 min |
| Dec 28, 11:50 AM CST | Tornado Warning | MOB | Butler | 12 min |
| Dec 28, 12:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Okaloosa, Santa Rosa | 44 min |
| Dec 28, 12:51 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Butler, Crenshaw | 39 min |
| Dec 28, 1:12 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Covington | 48 min |
| Dec 28, 1:40 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Geneva | 80 min |
| Dec 28, 1:55 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MOB | Covington | 35 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, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 205 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 769 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 81 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 141 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
556 WWUS20 KWNS 281702 SEL6 SPC WW 281702 ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-290000- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 576 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 1105 AM CST MON DEC 28 2015 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ALABAMA FLORIDA PANHANDLE EXTREME SOUTHWEST GEORGIA COASTAL WATERS * EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY MORNING AND EVENING FROM 1105 AM UNTIL 600 PM CST. * PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE... A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE ISOLATED LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE SUMMARY...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO SPREAD FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE WATCH AREA THIS AFTERNOON WITH A RISK FOR A COUPLE OF TORNADOES AND LOCALLY DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 80 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF DOTHAN ALABAMA TO 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PANAMA CITY FLORIDA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU6). 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 575... 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 21035. ...MEAD
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 28, 6:41 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw and 27 more | 5 hr |
| Dec 28, 8:38 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison and 1 more | 67 min |
| Dec 28, 10:21 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler and 34 more | 84 min |
| Dec 28, 2:27 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Pike | 33 min |
| Dec 28, 3:31 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Russell | 29 min |
| Dec 28, 5:07 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Houston | 53 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Florida, 2015Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2015Tornado Watches in Georgia, 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.