Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Atlanta, GA

February 21, 1997Banks County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 1997, 2:44 PM EST for Banks County, Georgia. It was in force for 31 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
Feb 21, 1997, 2:44 PM EST (19:44 UTC)
Expired
Feb 21, 1997, 3:15 PM EST
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Banks County, GA

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 131 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:45 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Feb 21, 2:53 PM ESTThunderstorm WindHollingsworth, 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

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 330 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1997-02-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 116 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 1997-02-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 475 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
116 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
589 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
475 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
530 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KATL 211945 RRA
SVRATL
GAC011-311-212015-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
244 PM EST FRI FEB 21 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA
 
   ...BANKS COUNTY...WHITE COUNTY
 
AT 243 PM EST...DOPPLER SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED
NORTHEAST OF GAINSVILLE MOVING TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 21, 1:45 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCClayton, Fayette30 min
Feb 21, 1:56 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCFulton34 min
Feb 21, 2:03 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDeKalb, Henry, Rockdale27 min
Feb 21, 2:24 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCNewton, Walton36 min
Feb 21, 2:44 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCWhite31 min
Feb 21, 2:50 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBarrow, Clarke, Jackson, Oconee40 min
Feb 21, 2:50 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMorgan40 min
Feb 21, 3:03 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMadison, Oglethorpe42 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.