Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 330, NWS Atlanta, GA

September 16, 1996DeKalb County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 16, 1996, 3:51 PM EDT for DeKalb County, Georgia. It was in force for 39 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
Sep 16, 1996, 3:51 PM EDT (19:51 UTC)
Expired
Sep 16, 1996, 4:30 PM EDT
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County DeKalb County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 55 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:53 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Sep 16, 4:20 PM EDTThunderstorm WindStone Mtn, 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 51 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1996-09-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 199 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1996-09-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 224 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
199 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-40 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
677 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
224 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
284 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KATL 161950
SVRATL
GAC297-089-135-162030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
351 PM EDT MON SEP 16 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA
 
   ...WALTON COUNTY
 
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
 
   ...DE KALB COUNTY...GWINNETT COUNTY
 
AT 350 PM THE PEACHTREE CITY DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WAS NEAR STONE MOUNTAIN MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH
TOWARD SNELLVILLE.
 
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, Sep 16, 11:48 AM EDT, 4 hours 3 minutes before
GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086-
091>098-103>113-162100-

NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
1145 AM EDT MON SEP 16 1996

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTH AND CENTRAL
GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

THE AIRMASS OVER GEORGIA IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY UNSTABLE WITH SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS SPREADING EASTWARD FROM ALABAMA. THE THREAT OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON AS AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE
OVER WESTERN TENNESSEE AND MISSISSIPPI APPROACHES THE STATE. THE MAIN
THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN NORTH AND CENTRAL
GEORGIA SHOULD MONITOR WEATHER DEVELOPMENTS THIS AFTERNOON AND BE READY
FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION.

WRS

BDL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 16, 12:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCatoosa, Walker, Whitfield44 min
Sep 16, 1:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGilmer, Murray44 min
Sep 16, 1:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGordon, Pickens49 min
Sep 16, 1:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGordon, Pickens46 min
Sep 16, 3:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGwinnett, Walton39 min
Sep 16, 5:42 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCNewton, Rockdale33 min
Sep 16, 6:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCTalbot22 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.