Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2017
Tornado Watch 261
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 24, 2017, 6:56 AM EDT for 36 counties in Florida; 6 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 8 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 24, 2017, 6:56 AM EDT (10:56 UTC)
- Expired
- May 24, 2017, 3:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 8 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 42 counties
Alachua County, FL, Baker County, FL, Bay County, FL, Bradford County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Citrus County, FL, Clay County, FL, Columbia County, FL, Dixie County, FL, Duval County, FL, Flagler County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gilchrist County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Hamilton County, FL, Hernando County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Lafayette County, FL, Lake County, FL, Leon County, FL, Levy County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Madison County, FL, Marion County, FL, Nassau County, FL, Pasco County, FL, Putnam County, FL, Saint Johns County, FL, Sumter County, FL, Suwannee County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Union County, FL, Volusia County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Brooks County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Grady County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Thomas County, GA
The radar
The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:56 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
- 50%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 40%
- 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
- 10%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 80%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 9:23 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Putnam | 37 min |
| May 24, 9:28 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Franklin, Jefferson, Wakulla | 26 min |
| May 24, 9:29 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | JAX | Putnam | 31 min |
| May 24, 9:47 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | JAX | Saint Johns | 28 min |
| May 24, 9:53 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Jefferson, Madison | 24 min |
| May 24, 10:07 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | JAX | Saint Johns | 23 min |
| May 24, 10:36 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Lafayette, Taylor | 39 min |
| May 24, 10:47 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Baker, Columbia, Hamilton, Suwannee | 43 min |
| May 24, 11:37 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Clay, Duval, Saint Johns | 38 min |
| May 24, 11:51 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TBW | Levy | 39 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 00:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 71 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
- 238 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -70 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1160 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 125 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 94 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.3
The text
As transmitted.
506 WWUS20 KWNS 241054 SEL1 SPC WW 241054 FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-241900- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 261 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 655 AM EDT Wed May 24 2017 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of North Florida Southern Georgia Coastal Waters * Effective this Wednesday morning and afternoon from 655 AM until 300 PM EDT. * Primary threats include... A few tornadoes possible Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible Isolated large hail events to 1.5 inches in diameter possible SUMMARY...Severe thunderstorms capable of a few tornadoes along with damaging winds are expected to gradually increase through the morning. This includes an early-day risk across the north-central peninsula near a remnant boundary, while other storms will move in from the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Panhandle and intensify within a very moist and increasingly unstable environment. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 55 statute miles north and south of a line from 35 miles south southwest of Marianna FL to 25 miles north northeast of Daytona Beach FL. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1). 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 1.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector 24030. ...Guyer
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 3:45 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alachua, Bradford, Clay, Duval, Gilchrist, Levy and 3 more | 2 hr |
| May 24, 6:30 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Citrus, Clay and 33 more | 2 hr |
| May 24, 10:26 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Calhoun, Citrus and 32 more | 94 min |
| May 24, 11:03 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baker, Columbia, Duval, Hamilton, Nassau, Suwannee | 10 hr |
| May 24, 12:54 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alachua, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus and 30 more | 2 hr |
| May 24, 2:10 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Columbia, Duval, Hamilton, Madison, Nassau and 1 more | 95 min |
| May 24, 2:49 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Clay, Collier, DeSoto and 23 more | 7 hr |
| May 24, 5:25 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Columbia, Duval, Hamilton, Madison, Nassau and 2 more | 65 min |
| May 23, 8:12 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta and 15 more | 93 min |
| May 23, 8:46 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Appling, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch, Candler and 12 more | 89 min |
| May 24, 7:41 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Fannin, Floyd and 8 more | 3 hr |
| May 24, 8:29 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Baldwin, Ben Hill and 83 more | 3 hr |
| May 24, 10:04 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga and 50 more | 11 hr |
| May 24, 3:02 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clarke and 43 more | 88 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Florida, 2017Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2017Every tornado watch in 2017
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.