Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 48, NWS Atlanta, GA

February 21, 1997Madison County, Oglethorpe County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 1997, 3:03 PM EST for Madison County, Oglethorpe County, Georgia. It was in force for 42 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
Feb 21, 1997, 3:03 PM EST (20:03 UTC)
Expired
Feb 21, 1997, 3:45 PM EST
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Madison County, GA, Oglethorpe County, GA

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:02 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, 3:10 PM ESTThunderstorm WindWinterville, GA
Feb 21, 3:10 PM ESTThunderstorm WindDanielsville, 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
Feb 21, 3:00 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 317 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1997-02-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 76 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1997-02-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 136 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
76 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
477 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
145 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 212004 RRA
SVRATL
GAC195-221-212045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
303 PM EST FRI FEB 21 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA
 
   ...MADISON COUNTY...OGLETHORPE COUNTY
 
AT 301 PM EST...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE NEAR ATHENS MOVING
EAST-NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO THE
DANIELSVILLE AREA BETWEEN 320 AND 330 PM.
 
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO 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.

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, 2:44 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBanks31 min
Feb 21, 2:50 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBarrow, Clarke, Jackson, Oconee40 min
Feb 21, 2:50 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMorgan40 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.