Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 18, NWS Atlanta, GA
NWS Atlanta, GA issued this tornado warning at Mar 18, 1996, 8:58 PM EST for Heard County, Georgia. It was in force for 47 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
- Mar 18, 1996, 8:58 PM EST (01:58 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 18, 1996, 9:45 PM EST
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Atlanta, GA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Heard County, GA
The radar
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:59 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18, 9:27 PM EST | Hail 1.75 | Waresville, GA | |
| Mar 18, 9:45 PM EST | Hail 1.75 | Centralhatchee, 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 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 59 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 143 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 709 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 61 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 114 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 188 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KATL 190157 TORATL GAC149-190245- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 858 PM EST MON MAR 18 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 945 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA ...HEARD COUNTY AT 855 PM EST WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF LAFAYETTE ALABAMA MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. THIS STORM WILL BE MOVING NEAR THE TOWN OF FRANKLIN. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Atlanta, GA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18, 9:31 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Meriwether, Troup | 29 min |
| Mar 18, 9:40 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Carroll | 35 min |
| Mar 18, 9:51 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Heard | 24 min |
| Mar 18, 10:02 PM EST | Tornado Warning | FFC | Carroll, Douglas | 43 min |
| Mar 18, 10:41 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Coweta | 19 min |
| Mar 18, 10:44 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Heard, Troup | 46 min |
| Mar 18, 10:48 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Paulding | 27 min |
| Mar 18, 10:53 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Carroll, Douglas | 37 min |
| Mar 18, 11:03 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Haralson, Polk | 27 min |
| Mar 18, 11:17 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Coweta | 28 min |
| Mar 18, 11:32 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Meriwether | 28 min |
| Mar 18, 11:32 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Fayette, Fulton | 28 min |
| Mar 18, 11:52 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Clayton, DeKalb, Henry | 53 min |
| Mar 18, 11:52 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Spalding | 53 min |
| Mar 19, 12:03 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Harris, Talbot | 27 min |
| Mar 19, 12:19 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Gwinnett, Rockdale | 41 min |
| Mar 19, 12:54 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Barrow, Jackson | 36 min |
| Mar 19, 1:36 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Jasper, Morgan, Putnam | 54 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Georgia, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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.