Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2024

Tornado Watch 85

April 3, 202416 counties in Florida; 34 counties in Georgia; Beaufort County, Jasper County, South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 3, 2024, 5:51 AM EDT for 16 counties in Florida; 34 counties in Georgia; Beaufort County, Jasper County, South Carolina. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 3, 2024, 5:51 AM EDT (09:51 UTC)
Expired
Apr 3, 2024, 1:00 PM EDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 52 counties

Baker County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Columbia County, FL, Dixie County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf 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, Appling County, GA, Atkinson County, GA, Bacon County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Brantley County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Bryan County, GA, Bulloch County, GA, Camden County, GA, Candler County, GA, Charlton County, GA, Chatham County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Coffee County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Echols County, GA, Effingham County, GA, Evans County, GA, Glynn County, GA, Grady County, GA, Jeff Davis County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Liberty County, GA, Long County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, McIntosh County, GA, Pierce County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Tattnall County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Ware County, GA, Wayne County, GA, Beaufort County, SC, Jasper County, SC

The radar

The Moody AFB radar (KVAX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:53 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
10%
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
60%

Warnings issued inside it

14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 3, 6:07 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEFranklin, Gulf, Liberty, Wakulla83 min
Apr 3, 6:07 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAECalhoun, Gadsden, Jackson, Liberty53 min
Apr 3, 6:20 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEColquitt, Dougherty, Mitchell, Tift, Worth85 min
Apr 3, 6:27 AM EDTTornado WarningJAXJeff Davis17 min
Apr 3, 6:45 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBen Hill, Berrien, Cook, Irwin75 min
Apr 3, 6:45 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEDecatur, Grady23 min
Apr 3, 7:26 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXAtkinson, Clinch, Coffee34 min
Apr 3, 7:37 AM EDTTornado WarningTAEBerrien8 min
Apr 3, 7:57 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Coffee, Ware33 min
Apr 3, 8:28 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXAppling, Bacon, Pierce, Ware, Wayne32 min
Apr 3, 9:23 AM EDTTornado WarningJAXWayne22 min
Apr 3, 10:12 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Gilchrist, Suwannee and 1 more63 min
Apr 3, 10:53 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXBaker, Duval, Nassau37 min
Apr 3, 11:04 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAXAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Duval, Putnam and 2 more41 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

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 00:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 110 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, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 2024-04-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 7 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 2024-04-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 23 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
7 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1359 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
71 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 3, 2:13 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes and 8 more92 min
Apr 3, 5:16 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jefferson and 6 more89 min
Apr 3, 8:34 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette and 4 more56 min
Apr 3, 10:05 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia and 12 more85 min
Apr 3, 10:43 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlachua, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Duval, Flagler and 14 more6 hr
Apr 3, 1:02 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCitrus, Flagler, Hernando, Lake, Levy, Marion and 7 more88 min
Apr 3, 3:22 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrevard, Hillsborough, Manatee, Orange, Osceola, Polk and 2 more83 min
Apr 2, 9:43 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarroll, Heard, Troup2 hr
Apr 2, 11:45 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarroll, Heard, Troup2 hr
Apr 3, 1:00 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Barrow, Bleckley, Burke, Columbia, Crisp and 31 more7 hr
Apr 3, 2:34 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBaker, Ben Hill, Calhoun, Clay, Dougherty, Early and 10 more5 hr
Apr 3, 3:53 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAppling, Bacon, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Bibb, Bleckley and 54 more97 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2024Tornado Watches in Florida, 2024Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 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.