Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 441, NWS Atlanta, GA

August 17, 1997Clarke County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 17, 1997, 5:19 PM EDT for Clarke County, Georgia. It was in force for 26 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
Aug 17, 1997, 5:19 PM EDT (21:19 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 1997, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Clarke County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:21 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
Aug 17, 5:23 PM EDTHail 1Athens, GASeveral public reports of dime to quarter size hail were received.
Aug 17, 5:30 PM EDTThunderstorm WindAthens Muni Arpt, GASevere thunderstorm winds knocked two hanger doors down. Two or three aircraft were damaged.The winds were reported by the weather observer as having been strong enough to move an old Radome like structure.

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, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 123 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 1997-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2630 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 1997-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -32 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
2630 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-40 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
669 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
19 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.

000 
TTAA00 KATL 172114 RRA
SVRATL
GAC059-172145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
519 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA
 
   ...CLARKE COUNTY
 
AT 515 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER ATHENS.
MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 20 MPH.
 
 
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 OUTSIDE 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 8:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHouston, Twiggs33 min
Aug 17, 6:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCTaliaferro, Wilkes52 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.