Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Watches in 2024
Tornado Watch 256
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 17, 2024, 7:47 PM EDT for 14 counties in Florida; 7 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 17, 2024, 7:47 PM EDT (23:47 UTC)
- Expired
- May 18, 2024, 1:00 AM EDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 21 counties
Baker County, FL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Columbia County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Hamilton County, FL, Jefferson County, FL, Lafayette County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Madison County, FL, Suwannee County, FL, Taylor County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Atkinson County, GA, Brantley County, GA, Camden County, GA, Charlton County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Echols County, GA, Ware County, GA
The radar
The Moody AFB radar (KVAX), 39 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:47 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
- 40%
- 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
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
13 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 8:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Atkinson, Clinch, Coffee | 50 min |
| May 17, 8:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | TAE | Gadsden, Jackson, Liberty | 32 min |
| May 17, 8:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Gadsden, Leon, Liberty | 81 min |
| May 17, 8:42 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Calhoun, Jackson | 20 min |
| May 17, 8:48 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon | 87 min |
| May 17, 9:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Atkinson, Clinch, Ware | 40 min |
| May 17, 9:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Charlton, Clinch, Ware | 36 min |
| May 17, 9:14 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | TAE | Gadsden | 3 hr |
| May 17, 10:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Hamilton | 43 min |
| May 17, 10:28 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Jefferson, Leon, Madison, Taylor, Wakulla | 62 min |
| May 17, 10:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Baker, Columbia | 24 min |
| May 17, 11:01 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Baker | 29 min |
| May 17, 11:25 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Jefferson, Madison, Taylor, Wakulla | 65 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 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 120 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
- 1201 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 61 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 46 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 367 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 3:21 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bay, Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton | 54 min |
| May 17, 7:39 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Citrus, Hernando, Levy | 2 hr |
| May 17, 3:31 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Calhoun, Escambia, Gadsden, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson and 5 more | 2 hr |
| May 17, 3:59 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Escambia, Holmes, Jackson, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton and 1 more | 6 hr |
| May 17, 6:32 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Escambia, Holmes, Jackson, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton and 1 more | 88 min |
| May 17, 7:17 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Calhoun, Gadsden, Hamilton, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and 2 more | 88 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Florida, 2024Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2024Every tornado watch in 2024
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.