Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 55, NWS Atlanta, GA

July 22, 1986Habersham County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 22, 1986, 3:58 PM EDT for Habersham County, Georgia. It was in force for 62 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 22, 1986, 3:58 PM EDT (19:58 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 1986, 5:00 PM EDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Habersham 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

Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 79 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1986-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 486 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1986-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 9 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
486 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-208 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1011 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
80 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 
TTAAOO KAHN 221958
SVRAHN
GAC137-222100-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
358 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 1986
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:
 
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA
          ..NORTHERN HABERSHAM

AT 4 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN
HABERSHAM COUNTY DRIFTING TO THE SOUTH AT LESS THAN 10 MILES
AN HOUR. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS ABOUT 14 MILES NORTH OF CORNELIA.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH,
DESTRUCTIVE HAIL, DE?ADLY LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.  FOR YOUR
PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR
HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DON'T DRIVE
INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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 22, 2:11 PM EDT, 1 hour 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
210 PM EDT TUE JUL 22 1986

AT 210 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
DEVELOPING IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA MAINLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 85.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE DRIFTING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT LESS
THAN 10 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSTROMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE IN DEVELOPMENT
DURING THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON.

PERSONS IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA...ESPECIALLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 85
SHOULD REMAIN ON THE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS...
GUSTY SURFACE WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGTNING.
Local storm report, Jul 22, 3:17 PM EDT, 41 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA

COUNTY........ RABUN

SOURCE........ COOP OBS

TIME.......... 1515EST  7/22/86

LOCATION...... MT CITY  GEORGIA

TYPE STORM.... THUNDERSTORM

HAIL.......... NO

DAMAGE........ TREES DOWN

INJURIES...... NONE

WARNING....... SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 1500-1600EDT
Local storm report, Jul 22, 3:41 PM EDT, 17 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA

COUNTY........ RABUN

SOURCE........ PUBLIC

TIME.......... 1530EST  7/22/86

LOCATION...... SOUTH PART OF LAKE BURTON

TYPE STORM.... THUNDERS-TORM

HAIL.......... NO

DAMAGE........ TREES DOWN

INJURIES...... NONE

WARNING....... SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 1500-1600EDT
Local storm report, Jul 22, 3:42 PM EDT, 16 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA

COUNTY........ HABERSHAM

SOURCE........ PUBLIC

TIME.......... 1530EST  7/22/86

LOCATION...... NORTH PART OF HABERSHAM COUNTY NEAR LAKE BURTON.

TYPE STORM.... THUNDERSTORM

HAIL.......... NO

DAMAGE........ TREES DOWN

INJURIES...... NONE

WARNING....... SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 1500-1600EDT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 21, 8:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCPike, Spalding40 min
Jul 22, 3:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCLumpkin, White58 min
Jul 22, 3:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHabersham, Rabun58 min
Jul 22, 4:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCFranklin57 min
Jul 22, 5:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBibb49 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.