Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 46, NWS Atlanta, GA

February 21, 19974 counties in Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 1997, 2:50 PM EST for 4 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 40 min. 4 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: Feb 21, 1997, 2:50 PM EST (19:50 UTC)
Expired: Feb 21, 1997, 3:30 PM EST
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Atlanta, GA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Barrow County, GA, Clarke County, GA, Jackson County, GA, Oconee County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 118 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:53 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
Feb 21, 2:50 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Bethlehem, GA
Feb 21, 3:02 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Stathum, GA
Feb 21, 3:05 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Athens, GA
Feb 21, 3:15 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Jefferson, 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, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 315 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: 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 211952 RRA
SVRATL
GAC013-059-157-211-219-212030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
250 PM EST FRI FEB 21 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA
 
   ...BARROW COUNTY...CLARKE COUNTY...JACKSON COUNTY
   ...MORGAN COUNTY...OCONEE COUNTY
 
AT 247 PM EST...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER EASTERN WALTON COUNTY WERE
MOVING THE NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. TREES WERE REPORTED DOWN IN WALTON AND
NEWTON COUNTIES.
 
A TORNADO WATCH WILL ALSO BE 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.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 21, 1:45 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Clayton, Fayette	30 min
Feb 21, 1:56 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Fulton	34 min
Feb 21, 2:03 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	DeKalb, Henry, Rockdale	27 min
Feb 21, 2:24 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Newton, Walton	36 min
Feb 21, 2:44 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	White	31 min
Feb 21, 2:44 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Banks	31 min
Feb 21, 2:50 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Morgan	40 min
Feb 21, 3:03 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Madison, Oglethorpe	42 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.