Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Atlanta, GA

March 5, 1989Chattooga County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 5, 1989, 6:40 PM EST for Chattooga County, Georgia. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 5, 1989, 6:40 PM EST (23:40 UTC)
Expired
Mar 5, 1989, 7:45 PM EST
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Chattooga 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 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 197 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 1989-03-05Temperature 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 1989-03-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 331 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
532 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
331 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
298 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 052339
SVRATL
GAC055-060045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
640 PM EST SUN MAR 5 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ATLANTA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
          ...CHATTOOGA
 
AT 637 PM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED NEAR LAKE WEISS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. DAMAGING WINDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS STORM
OVER CHEROKEE COUNTY ALABAMA.
 
THIS STORM SHOULD MOVE INTO CHATTOOGA COUNTY TOWARD SUMMERVILLE
GEORGIA.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND2 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, Mar 5, 5:27 PM EST, 1 hour 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
530 PM EST SUN MAR 5 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH ALONG THE
WESTERN BORDER OF GEORGIA FROM CHATTANOOGA SOUTH TO THE LAGRANGE
AREA.  THIS WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM THIS EVENING.
THE WATCH INCLUDES THE COUNTIES JUST TO THE WEST OF ATLANTA.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING OVER EASTERN ALABAMA...AND
SEVERAL OF THESE STORMS PRODUCED DAMAGING WINDS...HEAVY RAINS...
AND HAIL EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS STORMY
WEATHER AS IT APPRAOCHES NORTHWEST GEORGIA.  PEOPLE IN THE AREA
SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND SHOULD BE READY TO MOVE QUICKLY TO A
SAFE AREA IF WARNINGS ARE ISSUED.  STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION
FOR THE LATEST WEATHER UPDATES.
Special weather statement, Mar 5, 6:32 PM EST, 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
630 PM EST SUN MAR 5 1989

 ...A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES FOR HARRIS AND TROUP COUNTIES GEORGIA AND
FOR ALL OF EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA INCLUDING RUSSELL COUNTY UNTIL 11
PM EST TONIGHT...

AT 625 PM EST COLUMBUS WEATHER RADAR WAS SHOWING A SOLID AREA OF
RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NORTHEAST INTO CENTRAL ALABAMA.
THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE IN MONTGOMERY AND COOSA COUNTIES ALABAMA.
THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH WHILE THE WHOLE
AREA WAS PUSHING EAST AT 25 MPH.

PERSONS IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA SHOULD REMAIN
ALERT FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS AS THIS ACTIVTY MOVES EAST.
LISTEN TO NOAA WHEATHER RADIO OR OTHER NEWS MEDIA FOR LATER STATEMENTS
OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.