Alert archive / Florida / Mesoscale Discussions in 2021

Mesoscale Discussion 1533

August 16, 2021Franklin County, Taylor County, Wakulla County, Florida

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 16, 2021, 12:36 PM EDT for Franklin County, Taylor County, Wakulla County, Florida. It was in force for 114 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 2021, 12:36 PM EDT (16:36 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 2021, 2:30 PM EDT
In force
114 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Concerning
Tornado watch 441

Counties Franklin County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Wakulla County, FL

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 70 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:38 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 70 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2021-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 368 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2021-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
368 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
754 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

389 
ACUS11 KWNS 161636
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 161636 
FLZ000-161830-

Mesoscale Discussion 1533
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
1136 AM CDT Mon Aug 16 2021

Areas affected...The Apalachee Bay Coast

Concerning...Tornado Watch 441...

Valid 161636Z - 161830Z

The severe weather threat for Tornado Watch 441 continues.

SUMMARY...Rain bands with embedded thunderstorms will continue to
move northward into the Apalachee Bay coastal areas over the next
1-2 hours. The threat for brief waterspouts and/or tornadoes should
correspondingly increase through the early afternoon.

DISCUSSION...Tropical storm Fred continues to gradually shift
northward towards the FL panhandle. To the east of the center
circulation, persistent rain bands continue to feature embedded
thunderstorms thanks to a combination of low-level confluence over
Apalachee Bay and warm theta-e advection off the FL peninsula. VWP
observations from KTLH have shown strengthening flow in the lowest
1-2 km over the past hour as Fred's stronger wind field shifts
north. Consequently, low-level helicity has increased and is
supporting weak rotation in thunderstorms within the rain bands.
Recent RAP analyses support this trend and show favorable ESRH
beginning to overspread much of the Apalachee Bay coastal areas. As
a result, the potential for brief waterspouts and tornadoes is
expected to increase along the coast over the next few hours as the
rain bands begin to move onshore.

..Moore.. 08/16/2021

...Please see www.spc.noaa.gov for graphic product...

ATTN...WFO...TAE...

LAT...LON   29638516 29978500 30188460 30278422 30118368 29968346
            29788331 29568333 29488345 29538358 29698373 29878389
            29928411 29768436 29638465 29498492 29488512 29638516

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 6:26 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFranklin3 hr
Aug 16, 8:33 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBay, Calhoun, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf and 8 more13 hr
Aug 16, 10:20 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFranklin, Wakulla115 min
Aug 16, 3:55 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDixie, Gilchrist, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy, Taylor2 hr
Aug 16, 7:26 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson and 6 more64 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Florida, 2021Every mesoscale discussion in 2021

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.