Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2020
Tornado Watch 503
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 28, 2020, 11:34 PM CDT for 11 counties in Alabama; 12 counties in Florida; 25 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Oct 28, 2020, 11:34 PM CDT (04:34 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 29, 2020, 7:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 48 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, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Baker County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Clay County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Grady County, GA, Harris County, GA, Lee County, GA, Macon County, GA, Marion County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Schley County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Webster County, GA
The radar
The Eglin Afb radar (KEVX), 31 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:35 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
- 20%
- 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
1 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 29, 3:44 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | TAE | Bay, Calhoun, Jackson, Washington | 12 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, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 143 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
- 5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -98 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1015 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 124 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 171 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.5
The text
As transmitted.
206 WWUS20 KWNS 290431 SEL3 SPC WW 290431 ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-291000- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 503 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 1135 PM CDT Wed Oct 28 2020 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of Southeast Alabama Florida Panhandle Southwest Georgia Coastal Waters * Effective this Wednesday night and Thursday morning from 1135 PM until 500 AM CDT. * Primary threats include... A couple tornadoes possible Isolated damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible SUMMARY...Hurricane Zeta is tracking rapidly northeastward across central Alabama. Isolated small thunderstorms in the southeast quadrant of the system will pose a risk of a tornado or two overnight tonight across the watch area. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 55 statute miles east and west of a line from 50 miles south southwest of Panama City FL to 10 miles north northeast of Columbus GA. 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. && OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 502... AVIATION...Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to 0.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector 20050. ...Hart
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 11:04 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale and 8 more | 116 min |
| Oct 29, 2:11 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry and 5 more | 94 min |
| Oct 29, 4:16 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson, Leon and 2 more | 119 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2020Tornado Watches in Florida, 2020Tornado Watches in Alabama, 2020Every tornado watch in 2020
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.