Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 22, NWS Atlanta, GA

April 4, 1989Gilmer County, Pickens County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 4, 1989, 3:10 PM EDT for Gilmer County, Pickens County, Georgia. It was in force for 50 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
Apr 4, 1989, 3:10 PM EDT (19:10 UTC)
Expired
Apr 4, 1989, 4:00 PM EDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Gilmer County, GA, Pickens 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
Apr 4, 3:15 PM EDTHail 0.75Gilmer, 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, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 127 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 1989-04-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 30 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 1989-04-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 141 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
30 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-310 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
670 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
141 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
67 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 KATL 041910
SVRATL
GAC045-123-143-149-223-227-042000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
310 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ATLANTA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
          ...CARROLL...GILMER...HARALSON...HEARD...PAULDING...PICKENS
 
A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING RAPIDLY THROUGH NORTH
GEORGIA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.
 
 
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

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, Apr 4, 1:34 PM EDT, 1 hour 36 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
130 PM EDT TUE APRIL 4 1989

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 90 IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF NORTH AND CENTRAL
GEORGIA UNTIL 10 PM EDT...

AT 130 PM EDT THE ATHENS RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER
NORTHWEST GEORGIA MOVING EAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. THE STRONGEST
THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 25 MILES NORTHWEST OF ROME...NEAR TRION.

THUNDERSTORMS OF THIS MAGNITUDE CAN RAPIDLY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY
WINDS...VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND POSSIBLE HAIL. ALSO TORNADOES CAN
AND OFTEN DO DEVELOP RAPIDLY FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

PERSONS THROUGHOUT THE WATCH AREA SHOULD BE ALERT FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS AND POSSIBLE TORNADOS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS AFTERNOON
AND EARLY EVENING. NOW WOULD BE THE TIME TO GO OVER YOUR SEVERE
WEATHER PROCEDURES AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.

ELSEWHERE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED OVER NORTHEAST
ALABAMA AND SOUUTHEAST TENNESSEE AND WESTCENTRAL GEORGIA.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR.

KEEP TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR CONTINOUS WEATHER UPDATES
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS DURING THIS SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL.
Special weather statement, Apr 4, 2:01 PM EDT, 1 hour 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
200 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS FOR CHATTOOGA AND WALKER COUNTIES
   EXPIRED AT 2PM EDT...

...TORNADO WATCH...WATCH NUMBER 90...IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM.
THIS WATCH COVERS A LARGE PART OF THE NORTH GEORGIA...AND ADJACENT
PARTS OF NORTH CAROLINA AND TENNESSEE...

AT 200 PM...THE STRONG THUNDERSTORM THAT PROMPTED THE SEVERE THUNDER-
STORM WARNINGS IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA HAD WEAKENED. THE THUNDERSTORM
MOVED INTO SOUTHWEST WHITFIELD COUNTY AT 2 PM.

THERE WERE A COUPLE OF REPORTS OF LARGE HAIL AS THIS STORM MOVED
ACROSS CHATTOOGA COUNTY.

OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE IN NORTHEAST ALABAMA AND WILL BE MOVING
INTO NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS.

OTHER THUNDERSHOWERS WERE INDICATED BY RADAR STARTING TO DEVELOP IN
THE AREA BETWEEN ATLANTA AND COLUMBUS GEORGIA.

PERSONS IN NORTHERN GEORGIA SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER
CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
Local storm report, Apr 4, 2:12 PM EDT, 58 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
212 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1089

RADIO STATION WGTA IN SUMMERVILLE HAS RECEIVED SEVERAL REPORTS OF HAIL
THE SIZE OF QUARTERS AND SOME THE SIZE OF HALF DOLLARS AROUND MENLO
IN CHATTOOGA GEORGIA AROUND 145 PM EDT.
Local storm report, Apr 4, 2:28 PM EDT, 42 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
229 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1089

FLOYD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY HAS REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE
GROUND SOUTHWEST OF ROME BETWEEN ROME AND CAVE SPRINGS GEORGIA AT 223
PM EDT.
Local storm report, Apr 4, 2:42 PM EDT, 28 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
243 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1089

FLOYD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY REPORTS TREES BEING BLOWN
DONW IN ROME AREA AT 240 PM EDT.
Local storm report, Apr 4, 2:46 PM EDT, 24 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT CORRECTED FOR THE YEAR 1989
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
243 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989

FLOYD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY REPORTS TREES BEING BLOWN
DONW IN ROME AREA AT 240 PM EDT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 4, 1:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCChattooga54 min
Apr 4, 1:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCWalker49 min
Apr 4, 1:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCWalker41 min
Apr 4, 2:18 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCChattooga, Floyd42 min
Apr 4, 2:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCWalker49 min
Apr 4, 2:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMeriwether44 min
Apr 4, 2:50 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCBartow, Polk55 min
Apr 4, 2:50 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCGordon55 min
Apr 4, 3:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCarroll, Haralson, Paulding50 min
Apr 4, 3:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHeard50 min
Apr 4, 3:23 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCCarroll, Haralson, Paulding37 min
Apr 4, 3:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCherokee, Cobb, Douglas, Fulton59 min
Apr 4, 3:36 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCCherokee, Forsyth54 min
Apr 4, 3:41 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCCoweta, Fayette49 min
Apr 4, 3:44 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCClayton, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett46 min
Apr 4, 3:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDawson, Hall, Lumpkin56 min
Apr 4, 3:58 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCHenry, Rockdale, Spalding47 min
Apr 4, 4:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBanks, Habersham69 min
Apr 4, 4:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBarrow, Jackson69 min
Apr 4, 4:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCNewton, Walton69 min
Apr 4, 4:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCWhite63 min
Apr 4, 4:21 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCBanks, Habersham, Hall, Jackson69 min
Apr 4, 4:33 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCStephens57 min
Apr 4, 4:34 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCLamar, Pike, Upson41 min
Apr 4, 4:34 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCButts41 min
Apr 4, 4:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCJasper, Monroe69 min
Apr 4, 4:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCClarke, Elbert, Franklin, Hart, Madison, Oglethorpe68 min
Apr 4, 4:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGreene, Morgan, Oconee, Taliaferro68 min
Apr 4, 5:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCJones, Putnam63 min
Apr 4, 5:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBibb, Crawford55 min
Apr 4, 5:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHouston, Peach, Twiggs66 min
Apr 4, 5:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBaldwin, Wilkinson66 min
Apr 4, 5:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGlascock, Hancock, Warren62 min

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.