Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2016
Tornado Watch 25
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 24, 2016, 3:58 AM EST for 18 counties in Florida; 19 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 24, 2016, 3:58 AM EST (08:58 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 24, 2016, 10:00 AM EST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 37 counties
Alachua County, FL, Baker County, FL, Bradford County, FL, Citrus County, FL, Columbia County, FL, Gilchrist County, FL, Hamilton County, FL, Hernando County, FL, Hillsborough County, FL, Levy County, FL, Manatee County, FL, Marion County, FL, Pasco County, FL, Pinellas County, FL, Sarasota County, FL, Sumter County, FL, Suwannee County, FL, Union County, FL, Appling County, GA, Atkinson County, GA, Bacon County, GA, Brantley County, GA, Bulloch County, GA, Candler County, GA, Charlton County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Coffee County, GA, Echols County, GA, Evans County, GA, Jeff Davis County, GA, Jenkins County, GA, Long County, GA, Pierce County, GA, Screven County, GA, Tattnall County, GA, Ware County, GA, Wayne County, GA
The radar
The Moody AFB radar (KVAX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:00 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
- 20%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 20%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 60%
Warnings issued inside it
10 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 24, 4:45 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Atkinson, Coffee | 45 min |
| Feb 24, 4:57 AM EST | Tornado Warning | JAX | Coffee, Jeff Davis | 33 min |
| Feb 24, 5:20 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Columbia, Hamilton, Suwannee | 40 min |
| Feb 24, 5:46 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Appling, Coffee, Jeff Davis | 32 min |
| Feb 24, 5:54 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Alachua, Columbia, Gilchrist | 51 min |
| Feb 24, 6:21 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Coffee, Pierce, Ware | 39 min |
| Feb 24, 7:09 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Union | 36 min |
| Feb 24, 7:36 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Bradford, Clay, Duval | 39 min |
| Feb 24, 8:41 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Marion | 49 min |
| Feb 24, 9:49 AM EST | Tornado Warning | TBW | Pasco, Polk, Sumter | 11 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 00:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 91 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
- 652 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -26 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1024 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 76 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 131 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 1.8
The text
As transmitted.
146 WWUS20 KWNS 240856 SEL5 SPC WW 240856 FLZ000-GAZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-241500- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 25 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 355 AM EST WED FEB 24 2016 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF PARTS OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL FLORIDA SOUTHEAST GEORGIA PARTS OF SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA COASTAL WATERS * EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 355 AM UNTIL 1000 AM EST. * 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...A BAND OF STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS CONTINUES MOVING ACROSS SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND THE EASTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE...TOWARD SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE FLORIDA PENINSULA. A TORNADO OR TWO WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH ROTATING STORMS AHEAD OF -- AND EMBEDDED WITHIN -- THE MAIN BAND...ALONG WITH RISK FOR LOCALLY DAMAGING WINDS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 40 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES NORTH OF WAYCROSS GEORGIA TO 75 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF OCALA FLORIDA. 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 23...WW 24... 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 22045. ...GOSS
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 23, 7:51 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Escambia | 54 min |
| Feb 23, 9:08 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden and 14 more | 9 hr |
| Feb 23, 10:07 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bay, Holmes, Jackson, Okaloosa, Walton, Washington | 53 min |
| Feb 24, 1:44 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Franklin, Gadsden, Hamilton, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and 2 more | 2 hr |
| Feb 24, 6:48 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia and 7 more | 87 min |
| Feb 24, 8:36 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Charlotte, Clay, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands and 11 more | 84 min |
| Feb 24, 11:42 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brevard, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee and 18 more | 63 min |
| Feb 24, 12:14 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bibb, Bleckley, Chattahoochee, Crawford, Crisp, Dodge and 27 more | 6 hr |
| Feb 24, 8:14 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Banks, Barrow, Dawson, Fannin, Forsyth, Franklin and 12 more | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2016Tornado Watches in Florida, 2016Every tornado watch in 2016
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.