Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Atlanta, GA

January 5, 1997Polk County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 5, 1997, 3:03 AM EST for Polk County, Georgia. It was in force for 27 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
Jan 5, 1997, 3:03 AM EST (08:03 UTC)
Expired
Jan 5, 1997, 3:30 AM EST
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:08 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
Jan 5, 3:10 AM ESTThunderstorm WindCountywide, 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jan 5, 3:00 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 95 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 00:00Z on 1997-01-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 65 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 00:00Z on 1997-01-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 178 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
65 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-97 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1201 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
178 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
219 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.

176 
WUUS1 KATL 050804 RRA
SVRATL
GAC233-050830-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
303 AM EST SUN JAN 5 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
 
   ...POLK COUNTY
 
AT 302 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM OVER CEDARTOWN MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 5, 1:49 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDade26 min
Jan 5, 2:37 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCChattooga38 min
Jan 5, 3:24 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBartow36 min
Jan 5, 4:31 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCClayton, Coweta, Fayette, Fulton29 min
Jan 5, 5:09 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCTroup36 min
Jan 5, 5:37 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHenry, Spalding38 min
Jan 5, 5:58 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCButts, Jasper, Newton32 min
Jan 5, 7:38 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBaldwin, Hancock37 min
Jan 5, 7:49 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDooly, Houston, Macon26 min
Jan 5, 8:25 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDooly, Pulaski35 min
Jan 5, 8:34 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBleckley, Dodge26 min
Jan 5, 8:51 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCLaurens54 min
Jan 5, 9:03 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDodge27 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.