Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 359, NWS Atlanta, GA

July 4, 1997Towns County, White County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 4, 1997, 8:12 PM EDT for Towns County, White County, Georgia. It was in force for 48 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: Jul 4, 1997, 8:12 PM EDT (00:12 UTC)
Expired: Jul 4, 1997, 9:00 PM EDT
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Atlanta, GA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Towns County, GA, White County, GA

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 139 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:14 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
Jul 4, 8:15 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Cleveland, GA	Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down in the vicinity of Helen. More than 13,000 people were without electricity for several hours. Falling trees damaged more than a dozen homes county wide.
Jul 4, 8:20 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Hiawassee, GA	Several trees and power lines were knocked down countywide.

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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jul 4, 5:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 172 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 3896 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1243 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 34 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 38 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 2.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KATL 050012 RRA
SVRATL
GAC139-281-311-050100-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
812 PM EDT FRI JUL 4 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA
 
   ...NORTHERN HALL COUNTY...SOUTHERN TOWNS COUNTY...WHITE COUNTY
 
AT 810 PM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
NEAR SUCHES IN LUMPKIN AND DAHLONEGA MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. THIS PATH
WILL TAKE THESE STORMS OVER THE CITIES OF CLARMONT AND CLEVELAND BY 825
PM. THESE STORMS HAVE PRODUCED DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL AS THEY
HAVE MOVED ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA.
 
DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING
ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM
WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. BOATERS, GOLFERS, AND OTHERS
INVOLVED IN OUTS>IDE ACTIVITIES SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
 
IF YOU EXPERIENCE STORM DAMAGE TO STRUCTURES OR TREES...OR HAIL THE
SIZE OF DIMES OR LARGER...PLEASE REPORT IT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE BY CALLING 770-486-8535.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 4, 8:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Hall	48 min
Jul 4, 8:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Banks, Jackson	44 min
Jul 5, 3:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Webster	51 min
Jul 5, 3:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Sumter	38 min
Jul 5, 4:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Dooly	54 min
Jul 5, 4:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Houston	54 min
Jul 5, 5:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Treutlen	46 min
Jul 5, 6:16 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Johnson	44 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 1997 Every 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.