Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 47, NWS Atlanta, GA

July 21, 1986Screven County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 21, 1986, 4:31 PM EDT for Screven County, Georgia. It was in force for 69 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 21, 1986, 4:31 PM EDT (20:31 UTC)
Expired
Jul 21, 1986, 5:40 PM EDT
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Screven County, GA

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 152 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1986-07-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3250 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1986-07-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -7 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
3250 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-61 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1240 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
0 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KAGS 212031
SVRAGS
GAC251-212130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUGUSTA GA
431 PM EDT MON JUL 21 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY OF

EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA...SOUTHERN SCREVEN

WEATHER RADAR AT 425 PM EDT DETECTED A SEVER THUNDERSTORM OVER
SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF SCREVEN COUNTY IN THE VICINITY OF HUNTERS
 MOVING SOUTH AT ABOUT 5 MILES AN HOUR.

 A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS DEFINED AS HAVING WINDS AT LEAST 58 MPH
 AND/OR HAIL 3/4 INCH IN DIAMETER OR LARGER. IF THREATENING
 WEATHER APPROACHES...TAKE IMMEDIATE PRECAUTIONS.

 THIS STORM IS ACCOMPANIED BY FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND STRONG GUSTY
 WINDS.

 PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR
 RAPIDLY RISING WATERS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE THE NECESSARY ACTIONS
 TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY.

 THIS SLOW MOVING TH(UNDERSTORM MAY CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS
 AND UNDERPASSES. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH WATER OVER
 ROADWAYS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 21, 2:11 PM EDT, 2 hours 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS, GA
215 PM EDT MON JUL 21 1986

...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA..
AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA...

WEATHER RADAR AT COLUMBUS GEORGIA SHOWED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
DEVELOPING OVER EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA WITH
THE HEAVIEST STORM LOCATED NEAR OPELIKA ALABAMA AND JUNCTION CITY
GEORGIA.

THE THUNDERSTORMS SHOW VERY LITTLE MOVEMENT.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS..VERY DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING..TORRENTIAL RAIN AND SMALL HAIL..PERSONS IN THESE AREAS
SHOULD REMAIN ON THE ALERT FOR THESE CONDITIONS FOR THE NEXT COUPLE
OF HOURS.
Special weather statement, Jul 21, 2:29 PM EDT, 2 hours 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS, GA
230 PM EDT MON JUL 21 1986

...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER WEST CENTRAL AND
SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA.

WEATHER RADAR AT COLUMBUS GEORGIA SHOWED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
DEVELOPING OVER WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA WITH THE
HEAVIEST STORM LOCATED NEAR BLAKELY AND ALBANY GEORGIA.

THE THUNDERSTORMS SHOW VERY LITTLE MOVEMENT.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS..VERY DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING..TORRENTIAL RAIN AND SMALL HAIL..PERSONS IN THESE AREAS
SHOULD REMAIN ON THE ALERT FOR THESE CONDITIONS FOR THE NEXT COUPLE
OF HOURS.
Special weather statement, Jul 21, 3:06 PM EDT, 1 hour 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MACON GA
3 PM EDT MON JUL 21 1986

....STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER PORTIONS OF GEORGIA....

AT 250 PM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER A LARGE PORTION OF GEORGIA INCLUDING
CENTRAL AND SOUTHCENTRAL SECTIONS.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER NORTHCENTRAL TELFAIR..
WHEELER..BEN HILL..AND TURNER COUNTIES. THE STRONGEST OF THESE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS..VERY HEAVY
RAIN..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL AS THEY DEVELOP
AND DRIFT SOUTHEAST DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.

MOTORIST SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY ALERT FOR SUDDEN HEAVY RAIN AND WET
ROADS.
Special weather statement, Jul 21, 3:48 PM EDT, 43 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
345 PM EDT MON JUL 21 1986

AT 345 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHEAST
GEORGIA JUST NORTH OF CLEVELAND IN WHITE COUNTY AND OVER THE NORTH
END OF LAKE OCONEE IN GREENE COUNTY.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE DRIFTING
TO THE SOUTHEAST AT LESS THAN 10 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA...ESPECIALLY WHITE..HABERSHAM AND GREENE
COUNTIES...SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE THREATENING WEATHER
FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Atlanta, GA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 21, 3:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCTelfair, Wheeler65 min
Jul 21, 6:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCClarke, Oconee, Oglethorpe55 min
Jul 21, 7:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCLamar30 min
Jul 21, 7:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCoweta45 min
Jul 21, 7:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGreene, Oglethorpe, Taliaferro68 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1986

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.