Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2016

Tornado Watch 3

January 15, 201614 counties in Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 15, 2016, 10:35 AM EST for 14 counties in Florida. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jan 15, 2016, 10:35 AM EST (15:35 UTC)
Expired
Jan 15, 2016, 4:26 PM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Broward County, FL, Charlotte County, FL, Collier County, FL, DeSoto County, FL, Glades County, FL, Hendry County, FL, Highlands County, FL, Indian River County, FL, Lee County, FL, Martin County, FL, Miami-Dade County, FL, Okeechobee County, FL, Palm Beach County, FL, Saint Lucie County, FL

The radar

The Tampa radar (KTBW), 147 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:34 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
50%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 15, 10:52 AM ESTTornado WarningTBWLee23 min
Jan 15, 11:28 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWLee16 min
Jan 15, 11:30 AM ESTTornado WarningMFLCollier, Glades, Hendry45 min
Jan 15, 11:47 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTBWLee28 min
Jan 15, 12:19 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLCollier, Hendry41 min
Jan 15, 12:50 PM ESTTornado WarningMFLPalm Beach25 min
Jan 15, 12:59 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMLBMartin31 min
Jan 15, 1:11 PM ESTTornado WarningMFLPalm Beach34 min
Jan 15, 1:28 PM ESTTornado WarningMFLPalm Beach32 min
Jan 15, 1:58 PM ESTTornado WarningMFLPalm Beach32 min
Jan 15, 3:30 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFLMiami-Dade12 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

Tampa Bay, FL (KTBW), launched 12:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 147 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 2016-01-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Tampa Bay, FL at 12:00Z on 2016-01-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 458 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
918 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
458 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
518 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

416 
WWUS20 KWNS 151533
SEL3  
SPC WW 151533
FLZ000-CWZ000-152200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 3
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1035 AM EST FRI JAN 15 2016

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  PARTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH FLORIDA
  COASTAL WATERS

* EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 1035 AM UNTIL
  500 PM EST.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE

SUMMARY...CLUSTERS OF STRONG/SEVERE STORMS WILL SPREAD EASTWARD
ACROSS THE CORRIDOR ROUGHLY FROM FORT MEYERS TO WEST PALM BEACH
THROUGH MID AFTERNOON.  THE STRONGEST STORMS COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO
OR TWO...AS WELL AS ISOLATED DAMAGING GUSTS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 35 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FORT
MEYERS FLORIDA TO 115 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF FORT MEYERS
FLORIDA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).

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.

&&

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25035.


...THOMPSON

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 15, 6:17 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDixie, Taylor, Wakulla88 min
Jan 15, 8:53 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCharlotte, Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough and 8 more2 hr
Jan 15, 10:12 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBroward, Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Lee and 3 more2 hr

Nearby

Tornado 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.