Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 91, NWS Atlanta, GA

March 30, 1997Heard County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 30, 1997, 5:21 PM EST for Heard County, Georgia. It was in force for 39 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
Mar 30, 1997, 5:21 PM EST (22:21 UTC)
Expired
Mar 30, 1997, 6:00 PM EST
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Heard County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:23 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 30, 5:40 PM ESTHail 1Franklin, GA
Mar 30, 5:58 PM ESTHail 0.75Franklin, 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 30, 5:00 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 59 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 1997-03-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-03-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 43 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2188 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
54 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 302220 RRA
SVRATL
GAC149-302300-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
521 PM EST SUN MAR 30 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
 
   ...HEARD COUNTY
 
AT 520 PM EST...DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST EAST OF
WEDOWEE IN RANDOLPH COUNTY ALABAMA MOVING TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH. THIS
STORM WILL MOVE TO JUST NORTH OF FRANKLIN BY 535 PM.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEAD@LY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 30, 5:50 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCoweta25 min
Mar 30, 6:20 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCClayton, Fayette, Fulton30 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.