Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 35, NWS Birmingham, AL

January 24, 1997Quitman County, Stewart County, Georgia

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 24, 1997, 10:46 AM EST for Quitman County, Stewart County, Georgia. It was in force for 44 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 24, 1997, 10:46 AM EST (15:46 UTC)
Expired
Jan 24, 1997, 11:30 AM EST
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Quitman County, GA, Stewart County, GA

The radar

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:45 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jan 24, 10:15 AM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 160 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 1997-01-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 43 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 1997-01-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 262 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
43 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
741 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
262 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
380 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 241546 RRA
SVRBHM
GAC239-259-241630-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
946 AM CST (1046 AM EST) FRI JAN 24 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 AM CST (1130 AM EST)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST GEORGIA
 
   ...QUITMAN COUNTY
 
IN WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA
 
   ...STEWART COUNTY
 
AT 1045 AM EST RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
INTO STEWART AND QUITMAN COUNTIES. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AROUND
45 MPH...AND WILL MOVE THROUGH THE WARNED COUNTIES THROUGH 1130 AM EST
 
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, Jan 24, 10:10 AM EST, 36 minutes before
ALZ052>055-057-241610-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
910 AM CST FRI JAN 24 1997

THE TORNADO WATCH FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN ALABAMA
IS HEREBY CANCELLED

WASHINGTON...CLARKE...MONROE...WILCOX...AND BUTLER

THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS PROVIDING THE IMMEDIATE THREAT OF SEVERE
WEATHER HAS MOVED ON EAST OF THIS AREA.  ADDITIONAL SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AS A COLD FRONT
CONTINUES TO MOVE TOWARD SOUTHWEST ALABAMA.
Special weather statement, Jan 24, 10:34 AM EST, 12 minutes before
ALZ040>043-045-241635-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
934 AM CST FRI JAN 24 1997

THE TORNADO WATCH THAT WAS ISSUSED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES
IN ALABAMA IS HEREBY CANCELLED.

DALLAS...AUTAUGA...LOWNDES...ELMORE...MONTGOMERY...MACON

THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS THAT WAS PRODUCING SEVERE WEATHER HAS MOVED
ON EAST AT THIS TIME. ADDITIONAL SEVERE WEATHER IS POSSIBLE LATER TODAY
AS A COLD FRONT MOVES IN FROM THE WEST.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 24, 10:42 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXChattahoochee, Muscogee48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.