Record Setting Watch?

[rdale]

Can I place this as a possible record for smallest watch box ever? Does it make any sense to issue a watch for three counties?

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WS 501
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
850 PM CDT SUN JUN 19 2005

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 501 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM CDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS

MNC061-071-137-200700-
/O.NEW.KWNS.SV.A.0501.050620T0150Z-050620T0700Z/

MN
. MINNESOTA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

ITASCA KOOCHICHING ST. LOUIS
$$


ATTN...WFO...DLH...

 

[Jayson Prentice]

Given that it only includes 3 counties, but these counties are quite large.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 40
STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 70 MILES WEST
SOUTHWEST OF INTERNATIONAL FALLS MINNESOTA TO 75 MILES EAST
SOUTHEAST OF INTERNATIONAL FALLS MINNESOTA. FOR A COMPLETE
DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).

That is nearly 12,000 square statute miles... I say it is worth it when severe storms are definately possible over this area.

 

[Chris Carlson]

Can I place this as a possible record for smallest watch box ever? Does it make any sense to issue a watch for three counties?

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WS 501
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
850 PM CDT SUN JUN 19 2005

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 501 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM CDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS

MNC061-071-137-200700-
/O.NEW.KWNS.SV.A.0501.050620T0150Z-050620T0700Z/

MN
. MINNESOTA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

ITASCA KOOCHICHING ST. LOUIS
$$


ATTN...WFO...DLH...

Yeah, I noticed that too. But yeah, but of those counties are huge. You could probably fit at least 3 or 4 "average" size counties in both.

 

[Verne Carlson]

Another small tornado watch this year was the one on June 12th for the single supercell by Hamlin, TX. A whole watchbox for one storm! :shock:

 

[Scott Taylor]

Does it make any sense to issue a watch for three counties?

Does to me, unless the people in those counties are less important than other people out there. ;>

( my impression of a rdale post. )

 

[Nick Smith]

I am unsure of the date, but I do recall seeing a tornado watch of about that size a few years ago (think it was in the SD/ND/IA area).

 

[rdale]

Does anyone actually live up that far north?

 

[nickgrillo]

Just a few wolves, bears, mountain lions and garter snakes... :lol:

 

[Robert Dewey]

Originally posted by rdale
Does anyone actually live up that far north?

I have been known to randomly wander off into that section of MN, and get lost :lol:

 

[Brandon Clement]

The NWS in Jackson, Ms issues watches for just a couple counties several times a year. Usually it is one sup that has been fairly long tracked and they use the watch to give people an extra heads up on the coming danger. I don't see a problem with it. At least they issued a watch that actually had a storm in it. Hmmmm, wonder if they issue the watch just to get there average up? It would be like missing a shot in basketball to get your own rebound for that triple double, lol.

 

[nickgrillo]

NWS offices won't issue watches, maybe you are talking about how they will sometimes extend a watch, particularly for the counties in the path of the storm(s) in question, once the original watch has expired...

 

[Tim Vasquez]

 

[John MacKay]

NWS Offices can also extend a watch box to include other counties. The ICT office extended a severe thunderstorm watch on June 10th of this year to include six counties on the KS side (the northern end of the watch box extended to the KS/OK border). It ended up being a good idea, as a lone severe thunderstorm traveled from northern Oklahoma into Harper/Sumner counties, went into western Sedgwick county travelling in a manner that would miss Wichita, but then the storm widened and bowed out as it, all of a sudden, cruised eastward through Wichita. It featured one of the most pronounced (and menacing) shelf clouds I had ever seen.

It was the second time the ICT NWS extended a severe thunderstorm watch (area or time) as they extended a watch earlier in the year locally for another hour as storms in the Wichita area were still producing golfball-sized hail when the SPC watch expired.

Usually, the NWS in the area can locally extend a watch (or place one for a small area) in order to keep the SPC from issuing a new watch to cover the area as they would have in the past. I've only seen this extension for severe thunderstorm watches, but it easily applies to tornado watches as well.