Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 30, NWS Atlanta, GA

June 21, 1987Catoosa County, Walker County, Whitfield County, Georgia; Hamilton County, Tennessee

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 21, 1987, 7:22 PM EDT for Catoosa County, Walker County, Whitfield County, Georgia; Hamilton County, Tennessee. It was in force for 68 min. 1 report 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
Jun 21, 1987, 7:22 PM EDT (23:22 UTC)
Expired
Jun 21, 1987, 8:30 PM EDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Catoosa County, GA, Walker County, GA, Whitfield County, GA, Hamilton County, TN

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
Jun 21, 8:15 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Whitfield, 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 189 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1987-06-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1347 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1987-06-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 73 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
1347 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
587 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
73 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
65 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCHA 212322
SVRCHA
GAC047-295-313-TNC065-220030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHATTANOOGA TN
722 PM EDT SUN JUN 21 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
          ...CATOOSA...WALKER...NORTHERN WHITFIELD
IN SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE
          ...HAMILTON
 
AT 720 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO
WESTERN HAMILITON COUNTY OF SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE.  THE THUNDERSTORM
IS MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY 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, Jun 21, 7:14 PM EDT, 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
715 PM EDT SUN JUN 21 1987

...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL DEVELOPS OVER PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST GEORGIA...

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS HAVE FORMED ACROSS NORTHWEST
GEORGIA THIS EVENING. MOST ARE PRODUCING LIGHT TO MODERATE RAINFALL.
HOWEVER...A FEW HAVE DEVELOPED INTO THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING LOCALLY
HEAVY RAINFALL. AT 710 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY
RAIN FALLING ON PORTIONS OF FLOYD AND BARTOW COUNTIES EXTENDING
NORTHEAST INTO GILMER AND DAWSON COUNTIES. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
MOVING NORTHEAST AT AROUND 15 MPH.

IN ADDITION...A BAND OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN ALABAMA WILL
BE MOVING ACROSS THE BORDER INTO NORTHWEST GEORGIA THIS EVENING.
LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL ACCOMAPANY THESE STORMS ALONG WITH THE
POSSIBLITY OF STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL.

PERSONS IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA...ESPECIALLY FROM A CARROLLTON TO
ATLANTA LINE NORTHWARD TO THE TENNESSEE BORDER...SHOULD BE PREPARED
FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS OVER THE
NEXT FEW HOURS. OBSERVE LIGHTNING SAFETY RULES...ESPECIALLY WHEN
OUTDOORS. MOTORISTS MAY ENCOUNTER STREET FLOODING AND ARE URGED
TO SLOW DlOWN DURING HEAVY RAINFALL.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 1987Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

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.