Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 233, NWS Atlanta, GA

July 12, 1990Catoosa County, Georgia; Bradley County, Tennessee

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 12, 1990, 4:31 PM EDT for Catoosa County, Georgia; Bradley County, Tennessee. It was in force for 59 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 12, 1990, 4:31 PM EDT (20:31 UTC)
Expired
Jul 12, 1990, 5:30 PM EDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Catoosa County, GA, Bradley County, TN

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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 190 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1990-07-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 101 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1990-07-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 23 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
101 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-57 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
717 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
44 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 KCHA 122036
SVRCHA
GAC047-TNC011-122130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHATTANOOGA TENNESSEE
431 PM EDT THU JUL 12 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHATTANOOGA TENNESSEE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
 
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
 
   ...CATOOSA COUNTY
 
 
IN SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE
 
   ...BRADLEY COUNTY
 
AT 430 PM EDT THE CHATTANOOGA WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM IN THE WESTERN SECTIONS OF CATOOSA COUNTY IN
NORTHWEST GEORGIA...AND IN THE WESTERN SECTION OF BRADLEY COUNTY
IN SOUTHEAST TENNESSEE.
 
THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
 
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOU$LD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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, Jul 12, 12:04 PM EDT, 4 hours 27 minutes before
GAZ002-004-111900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
1203 PM EDT THU JUL 12 1990

AT NOONTIME RADAR SHOWED AN INCREASE IN THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY BOTH
IN INTENSTIES AND AREAL COVERAGE. THIS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON HOURS. PEOPLE IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT
FOR BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS...STRONG GUSTY SURFACE WINDS...FREQUENT
CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL.

BOATERS AND OTHERS INVOLVE{D IN AQUATIC RECREATION SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY
CAUTIOUS OF QUICK BUILDING STORMS THAT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE RIVERS
AND LAKES OF NORTHEAST GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON.
Special weather statement, Jul 12, 12:23 PM EDT, 4 hours 8 minutes before
GAZ002-004-121900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
1203 PM EDT THU JUL 12 1990

AT NOONTIME RADAR SHOWED AN INCREASE IN THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY BOTH
IN INTENSTIES AND AREAL COVERAGE. THIS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON HOURS. PEOPLE IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT
FOR BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS...STRONG GUSTY SURFACE WINDS...FREQUENT
CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL.

BOATERS AND OTHERS INVOLVED IN AQUATIC RECREATION SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY
CAUTIOUS OF QUICK BUILDING STORMS THAT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE RIVERS
AND LAKES OF NORTHEAST GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON.
Special weather statement, Jul 12, 12:24 PM EDT, 4 hours 7 minutes before
GAZ001-003-111900

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA  GA
1225 PM EDT THU JUL 12 1990

    ...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER NORTHWEST GEORGIA...

NUMEROUS SHOWERS WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER THE
NORTHWEST DURING THE PAST HOUR. A CONCENTRATION OF THUNDERSHOWERS WERE
OVER CHEROKEE COUNTY. A SHORT LINE EXTENDED WEST INTO BARTOW AND FLOYD
COUNTIES. ANOTHER LINE EXTENDED SOUTH FROM CHEROKEE COUNTY INTO COBB AND
DOUGLAS COUNTIES. A SMALL CONCENTRATION OF THUNDERSHOWERS WERE OVER
TROUP AND COWETA COUNTIES. AFTER DEVELOPMENT THE STORMS WERE MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

PERSONS IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING
WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO TONIGHT AS THUNDERSHOWERS
WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND AFFECT MUCH OF THE NORTHWEST THIS
AFTERNOON.
Special weather statement, Jul 12, 3:34 PM EDT, 57 minutes before
GAZ002-004-122125-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATHENS GA
325 PM EDT THU JUL 12 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NUMBER 618 VALID UNTIL 930 PM EDT THIS THURSDAY EVENING.

THIS WATCH IN GEORGIA MAINLY EAST OF A LINE FROM HARTWELL TO ATHENS
TO MONROE.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER MUCH OF THE NORTH THIRD OF
GEORGIA...THE WESTERN CAROLINAS...EAST ALABAMA AND EAST TENNESSEE.
SHOWERS WERE WIDELY SCATTERED OVER SOUTH GEORGIA AND THUNDERSTORMS
WERE ISOLATED.

HEAVIEST RAINFALL IN GEORGIA WAS JUST SOUTH OF CHATTANOOGA TENNESSEE
AND NORTH TO NORTHEAST OF ATLANTA.

MOVEMENT NORTHEAST 30 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 12, 6:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCLaurens46 min
Jul 12, 4:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHamilton60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 1990Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Tennessee, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.