Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 162, NWS Atlanta, GA

October 1, 1989Rockdale County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 1, 1989, 8:52 PM EDT for Rockdale County, Georgia. It was in force for 38 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Oct 1, 1989, 8:52 PM EDT (00:52 UTC)
Expired: Oct 1, 1989, 9:30 PM EDT
In force: 38 min
Issued by: NWS Atlanta, GA
Area: Whole counties

County Rockdale 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 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 75 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 178 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 548 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 254 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 393 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KATL 020052
SVRATL
GAC247-020130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
852 PM EDT SUN OCT 1 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ATLANTA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
          ...ROCKDALE
 
AT 845 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS NEAR CONYERS
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THIS STORM PRODUCED HIGH WINDS
KNOCKING DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES NEAR THE HENRY/ROCKDALE
COUNTY LINE.
 
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

Local storm report, Oct 1, 5:51 PM EDT, 3 hours 1 minute before

LOCAL STORM REPORT...PRELIMINARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
6 00 PM EDT SUN OCT 1 1989

COUNTY..... COLQUITT
SOURCE..... COLQUIT COUNTY CIVIL DEFENSE
TIME....... 130 PM EDT...011730Z.
LOCATION... STATE HIGHWAY 37 ABOUT 5 MILES WEST OF MOULTRIE...NEAR
   COMMUNITY OF FUNSTON GEORGIA.
TYPE....... TORNADO...FUNNEL SIGHTED BY PUBLIC.
INJURIES... TWO FATALITIES.  ABOUT 20 INJURED.
DAMAGE..... TWELVE MOBILE HOMES DESTROYED.  ONE CHURCH ROOF BLOWN
            OFF.  SEVERAL HOMES HAD LARGE TREES DOWN.
WATCHES.... NONE
WARNINGS... NONE.
MISC....... REPORT RECEIVED BY WSO COLUMBUS AT 445 PM EDT.  PREVIOUS
   INFORMATION...ABOUT 2 PM EDT FROM COLQUITT SHERIFF OFFICE...HAD
   NO APPARENT INJURIES.   PATH OF STORM AND DAMAGE COST NOT YET
   KNOWN.  COLUMBUS...MACON AND WAYCROSS RADARS REPORTED NO UNUSUAL
   ECHOES SUGGESTING ANY SEVERE WEATHER.

Special weather statement, Oct 1, 7:59 PM EDT, 53 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
800 PM EDT SUN OCT 1 1989

...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA...

AT 755 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED A BAND OF SHOWERS A FEW
THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA. THIS BAND STRETCHED FROM
DALTON TO CARTERSVILLE TO ATLANTA. THUNDERSTORMS WERE
NEAR ACWORTH...AND ON THE EAST SIDE OF ATLANTA.

BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS CAN BE EXPECTED AS THE BAND OF SHOWERS
MOVES EAST AT 20 MPH. _THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY
WINDS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 1, 8:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Cherokee, Forsyth	46 min
Oct 1, 9:27 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	FFC	Barrow, Walton	48 min
Oct 1, 10:01 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Clarke, Jackson, Madison	59 min
Oct 1, 10:01 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Oconee	59 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 1989 Every 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.