Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 91, NWS Atlanta, GA

June 14, 1989DeKalb County, Gwinnett County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 14, 1989, 6:35 PM EDT for DeKalb County, Gwinnett County, Georgia. It was in force for 40 min. 2 reports 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 14, 1989, 6:35 PM EDT (22:35 UTC)
Expired
Jun 14, 1989, 7:15 PM EDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

Counties DeKalb County, GA, Gwinnett 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
Jun 14, 6:50 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Gwinnett, GA
Jun 14, 6:53 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0De Kalb, 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, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 77 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 1989-06-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1027 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 1989-06-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 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
1027 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-44 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
780 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
22 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 142236
SVRATL
GAC067-089-121-135-142315-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
635 PM EDT WED JUN 14 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ATLANTA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
          ...COBB...DEKALB...FULTON...GWINNETT
 
 
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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 14, 4:54 PM EDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before
SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
450 PM EDT WED JUN 14 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR CHAMBERS COUNTY
ALABAMA UNTIL 530 PM EDT.

AT 440 PM EDT COLUMBUS WEATHER RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS JUST
NORTH AND NORTHWEST OF COLUMBUS  TO NEAR LAFAYETTE ALABAMA. THE
THUNDERSTORM THAT CAME OVER COLUMBUS EARLIER HAD BRIEF HEAVY RAIN
AND STRONG WINDS TO 44 MILES AN HOUR. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAN HAVE WINDS
OF 58 MPH OR GREATER.

PERSONS IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA AND WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA SHOULD REMAIN
ALERT TO THE RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE FREQUENT LIGHTNING...VERY HEAVY
RAINFALL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

PLEASE KEEP LISTENING TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER LOCAL TELEVISION
AND RADIO STATIONS FOR FURTHER UPDATES FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
Special weather statement, Jun 14, 6:13 PM EDT, 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
612 PM EDT TUE JUN 13 1989

         ...THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHWEST GEORGIA....

NUMEROUS SHOWERS WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER PARTS
OF NORTHWEST GEORGIA DURING THE PAST COUPLE OF HOURS.

AT 605 PM RADAR INDICATED A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS THAT CURVED FROM
COWETA COUNTY ACROSS THE SOUTH PART OF FAYERTE COUTY AND INTO SPAULDING
COUNTY. HAIL WAS POSSIBLE IN A STORM IN FAYETTE COUNTY. THE STORMS WERE
DEVELOPING NORTH TOWARDS THE SOUTH PART OF THE ATLANTA METRO AREA.

ANOTHER CONCENTRATION OF STORMS WERE IN THE EXTREME NORTH AND EXTENDED
FROM BLUE RIDGE IN FANNIN COUNTY SOUTH ACROSS GILMER AND PICKENS
COUNTIES INTO CHEROKEE AND BARTOW COUNTIES. SHOWERS WERE MOVING TOWARDS
THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS, SMALL HAIL, AND CONSIDERABLE LIGHTNING CAN BE
EXPECTED AS THESE STORMS AFFECT THE AREA DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.
PERSONS ARE URGED TO REMAIN ALERT TO THESE STORMS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 14, 6:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCobb, Fulton40 min
Jun 14, 6:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBartow, Cherokee, Paulding53 min
Jun 14, 7:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCForsyth54 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.