Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 94, NWS Atlanta, GA

August 16, 1986Forsyth County, Fulton County, Gwinnett County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 16, 1986, 7:20 PM EDT for Forsyth County, Fulton County, Gwinnett County, Georgia. It was in force for 55 min. 5 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 1986, 7:20 PM EDT (23:20 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1986, 8:15 PM EDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Forsyth County, GA, Fulton County, GA, Gwinnett County, GA

The radar

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

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 16, 7:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Gwinnett, GA
Aug 16, 7:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Fulton, GA
Aug 16, 7:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Forsyth, GA
Aug 16, 7:45 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Forsyth, GA
Aug 16, 8:00 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Gwinnett, GA

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 84 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 1986-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 953 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 1986-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -23 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
953 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
888 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
7 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 KATL 162320
SVRATL
GAC117-121-135-170015-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
720 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 1986
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:
 
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
          ..FORSYTH..NORTH FULTON..GWINNETT

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED JUST NORTH OF ROSWELL IN NORTH
FULTON COUNTY AT 720 PM. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING, PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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, Aug 16, 5:22 PM EDT, 1 hour 58 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
520 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 1986

A BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM JUST WEST OF CHATTANOOGA
SOUTH TO NEAR ANNISTON ALABAMA AT 520 PM EDT.  THIS LINE OF
STORMS IS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH AND WILL BE MOVING INTO THE NORTHWEST
GEORGIA COUNTIES WHICH BORDER ALABAMA THIS EVENING.

BRIEF HEAVY RAIN, STRONG GUSTY WINDS, AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING WILL
ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS.

PEOPLE IwN THE NORTHWEST GEORGIA AREA, ESPECIALLY IN COUNTIES ALONG
THE ALABAMA BORDER...SHOULD BE ALERT AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH
FROM THE WEST.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 5:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCFloyd, Polk65 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.