Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 159, NWS Atlanta, GA

September 30, 1989Jones County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 30, 1989, 6:57 PM EDT for Jones County, Georgia. It was in force for 33 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
Sep 30, 1989, 6:57 PM EDT (22:57 UTC)
Expired
Sep 30, 1989, 7:30 PM EDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Jones 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
Sep 30, 7:10 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Jones, 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, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 106 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 1989-09-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1989-09-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
542 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
102 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 KMCN 302258
SVRMCN
GAC169-302330-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MACON GA
657 PM EDT SAT SEP 30 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MACON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN CENTRAL GEORGIA
          ...JONES
 
AT 655 PM RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR GRAY...MOVING NORTH
AT 25 MPH. THIS STORM BLEW DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES IN MACON DURING
THE PAST HOUR.
 
 
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, Sep 30, 4:28 PM EDT, 2 hours 29 minutes before
URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
425 PM EDT SAT SEP 30 1989

         ...HEAVY RAINS IN METRO ATLANTA...

AT 415 PM RADAR SHOWED LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN FALLING ACROSS METRO
ATLANTA. ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAIN HAS ALREADY FALLEN OVER MUCH OF
ATLANTA WITH HARTSFIELD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT REPORTING 1.34 INCHES
OF RAIN BETWEEN 1 PM AND 4 PM.

AT 420 PM PEACHTREE CREEK WAS AT 11.7 FEET AND RISING STEADILY. A CREST
OF 14 FEET IS EXPECTED AT THE NORTHSIDE DRIVE GAGE AROUND 6 PM THIS
EVENING. THIS WILL RESULT IN MINOR FLOODING OF LOW AREAS NEAR THE BOBBY
JONES GOLF COURSE AND SOME PARTS OF WOODWARD WAY.
IF MORE HEAVY OCCURRS LATER THIS EVENING...THE ACTUAL CREST MAY BE
HIGHER. SERIOUS FLOODING ON PEACHTREE CREEK BEGINS AT THE FLOOD STAGE OF
17 FEET.

OTHER SMALL STREAMS IN THE ATLANTA AREA MAY REACH BANKFULL AS WELL.
LOCALIZED FLOODING OF STREETS AND LOW LYING AREAS CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED.
A FLASH FLOO	D WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF NORTH GEORGIA THROUGH
TONIGHT.
Special weather statement, Sep 30, 6:43 PM EDT, 14 minutes before
URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
642 PM EDT SAT SEP 30 1989

         ...HEAVY RAINS IN METRO ATLANTA...

AT 630 PM MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN WAS CONTINUING TO FALL ACROSS MUCH
OF THE ATLANTA METROPOLITAN AREA. SINCE 1 PM EDT 2.31 INCHES HAVE
BEEN MEASURED AT HARTSFIELD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.

AT 630 PM PEACHTREE CREEK WAS AT 13.1 FEET AND RISING. A RISE
TO BETWEEN 14 AND 15 FEET IS EXPECTED INTO THE EVENING HOURS AS
RAINFALL CONTINNUES. SOME FLOODING OF BOBBY JONES GOLF COURSE CAN BE
EXPECTED. SOME FLOODING MAY ALSO OCCUR ON PARTS OF WOODWARD WAY.
IF RAINFALL BECOMES EVEN HEAVIER LATER THIS EVENING...WATER LEVELS ON
PEACHTREE CREEK WILL GO HIGHER. SERIOUS FLOODING ON PEACHTREE CREEK
BEGINS AT 17 FEET.

OTHER SMALL STREAMS IN THE ATLANTA AREA MAY BE NEAR OF ABOVE BANKFULL...
INCLUDING PROCTOR AND SOPE CREEKS.
<
SOME FLOODING OF STREETS AND UNDERPASSES IS ALSO LIKELY. WITH
DARKNESS APPROACHING...MOTORISTS MAY ENCOUNTER STANDING WATER ON
ROADWAYS WITHOUT WARNING. SLOW DOWN TO AVOID HYDROPLANING AND LOSS
OF CONTROL.

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF NORTH GEORGIA THROUGH
TONIGHT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 30, 7:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningFFCClayton, Fayette, Fulton4 hr
Sep 30, 7:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningFFCDeKalb4 hr
Sep 30, 7:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningFFCCobb, Douglas4 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.