Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 147, NWS Atlanta, GA

May 3, 1990Chattooga County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1990, 8:54 PM EDT for Chattooga County, Georgia. It was in force for 36 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
May 3, 1990, 8:54 PM EDT (00:54 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1990, 9:30 PM EDT
In force
36 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 3, 9:10 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Chattooga, 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 00:00Z, 0.9 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 00:00Z on 1990-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1249 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Athens Municipal, GA at 00:00Z on 1990-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 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
1249 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1512 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
105 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KATL 040055
SVRATL
GAC055-040130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA  GA
854 PM EDT THU MAY 3 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ATLANTA  HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
 
   ...CHATTOOGA COUNTY
 
AT 855 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ON THE ALABAMA
BORDER SOUTHWEST OF MENLO MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH TOWARD
THE MENLO AREA.
 
THIS STORM APPEARED TO BE PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND MAY ALSO
BE PRODUCING STRONG DAMAGING WINDS.
 
 
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

Special weather statement, May 3, 7:41 PM EDT, 1 hour 13 minutes before
GAZ001-003-040200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA  GA
740 PM EDT THU MAY 3 1990

AT 735 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN EXTREME
SOUTH CHEROKEE COUNTY NEAR WOODSTOCK. THIS STORM MAY BE
PRODUCING HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS AS IT MOVES NORTH AT
30 MPH.

PEOPLE IN CHEROKEE COUNTY SHOULD BE PREPARED TO MOVE INDOORS
OR TO SAFE SHELTER IF APPROACHED BY THIS STORM.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 9:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCWalker40 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1990

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.