Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2021
Tornado Watch 39
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 18, 2021, 7:53 AM EDT for 11 counties in Florida; 38 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 18, 2021, 7:53 AM EDT (11:53 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 18, 2021, 1:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 49 counties
Dixie County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Lafayette County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Madison County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Baker County, GA, Ben Hill County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Bleckley County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Crisp County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dodge County, GA, Dooly County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Emanuel County, GA, Grady County, GA, Irwin County, GA, Johnson County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Laurens County, GA, Lee County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Montgomery County, GA, Pulaski County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Telfair County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Tift County, GA, Toombs County, GA, Treutlen County, GA, Turner County, GA, Wheeler County, GA, Wilcox County, GA, Worth County, GA
The radar
The Moody AFB radar (KVAX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:54 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
- 60%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 60%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 20%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 30%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 20%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 80%
Warnings issued inside it
4 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18, 7:55 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Dougherty, Early, Quitman and 2 more | 65 min |
| Mar 18, 8:19 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Leon, Liberty and 1 more | 56 min |
| Mar 18, 8:24 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Gadsden, Leon, Liberty | 51 min |
| Mar 18, 9:11 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and 1 more | 64 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, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 114 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1019 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 44 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 126 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 171 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted.
166 WWUS20 KWNS 181150 SEL9 SPC WW 181150 FLZ000-GAZ000-CWZ000-181700- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 39 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 750 AM EDT Thu Mar 18 2021 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of The eastern Florida Panhandle and Big Bend Southwest and south central Georgia Coastal Waters * Effective this Thursday morning and afternoon from 750 AM until 100 PM EDT. * Primary threats include... A few tornadoes likely Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph likely Isolated large hail events to 1 inch in diameter possible SUMMARY...Clusters of thunderstorms with embedded rotation will likely persist for the next few hours from the Florida Panhandle into southwest Georgia, with the potential to produce a few tornadoes and damaging winds. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 50 statute miles east and west of a line from 85 miles northeast of Albany GA to 10 miles southeast of Apalachicola FL. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU9). 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 inch. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector 24040. ...Thompson
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 17, 11:15 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa | 90 min |
| Mar 18, 12:02 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Holmes, Jackson, Okaloosa and 3 more | 9 hr |
| Mar 18, 2:52 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Escambia, Holmes, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa | 83 min |
| Mar 18, 5:28 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Holmes, Jackson, Walton, Washington | 92 min |
| Mar 18, 7:32 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson and 6 more | 58 min |
| Mar 18, 11:05 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Columbia, Dixie, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Madison and 2 more | 115 min |
| Mar 18, 11:42 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval and 7 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 18, 10:34 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Franklin, Habersham and 5 more | 2 hr |
| Mar 18, 2:08 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Elbert, Lincoln | 4 hr |
| Mar 18, 3:10 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Elbert | 3 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2021Tornado Watches in Florida, 2021Every tornado watch 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.