Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 55, NWS Atlanta, GA

March 5, 1997Cherokee County, Pickens County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 5, 1997, 5:40 PM EST for Cherokee County, Pickens County, Georgia. It was in force for 35 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
Mar 5, 1997, 5:40 PM EST (22:40 UTC)
Expired
Mar 5, 1997, 6:15 PM EST
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cherokee County, GA, Pickens County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:44 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
Mar 5, 6:00 PM ESTThunderstorm WindWoodstock, 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
Mar 5, 4:00 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 109 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 1997-03-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 11 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 1997-03-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 81 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
11 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-224 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
672 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
153 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 052239 RRA
SVRATL
GAC057-227-052315-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
540 PM EST WED MAR 5 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
 
   ...CHEROKEE COUNTY...PICKENS COUNTY
 
AT 538 EST RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LOCATED
FROM NEAR RANGER IN GORDON COUNTY TO CASEVILLE IN BARTOW COUNTY.
THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR.
 
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
Mar 5, 5:20 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBartow, Gordon25 min
Mar 5, 6:03 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCTowns, Union27 min
Mar 5, 6:10 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCobb35 min
Mar 5, 6:18 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDawson, Forsyth, Fulton27 min
Mar 5, 6:26 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCarroll, Douglas34 min
Mar 5, 6:28 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHall32 min
Mar 5, 6:48 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGwinnett27 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.