Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Atlanta, GA

March 13, 1997Harris County, Talbot County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this tornado warning at Mar 13, 1997, 5:17 PM EST for Harris County, Talbot County, Georgia. It was in force for 28 min. 3 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 13, 1997, 5:17 PM EST (22:17 UTC)
Expired
Mar 13, 1997, 5:45 PM EST
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Harris County, GA, Talbot County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:20 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 13, 5:30 PM ESTTornado F0Cataula, GA
Mar 13, 5:45 PM ESTThunderstorm WindHamilton, GA
Mar 13, 5:50 PM ESTThunderstorm WindPleasant Hill, 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 75 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 1997-03-13Temperature 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 1997-03-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 160 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
847 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
160 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
208 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 132219 RRA
TORATL
GAC145-263-132245-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
517 PM EST THU MAR 13 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA
 
   ...HARRIS COUNTY...TALBOT COUNTY
 
AT 515 PM EST A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR IN SOUTHEAST HARRIS
COUNTY...5 MILES EAST OF ELLERSLIE. THIS TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTH
NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
TOWNS AFFECTED BY THIS STORM ARE WAVERLY HALL...SHILOH AND THE FRANKLIN
D. ROOSEVELT STATE PARK.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
THIS REPLACES THE SEVEREV THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR HARRIS COUNTY.
 
KM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 13, 5:00 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHarris50 min
Mar 13, 5:25 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMacon35 min
Mar 13, 5:42 PM ESTTornado WarningFFCMeriwether, Talbot48 min
Mar 13, 5:55 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMarion35 min
Mar 13, 6:03 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHarris27 min
Mar 13, 6:10 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCTalbot50 min
Mar 13, 6:18 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCPike27 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Georgia, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.