Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 12, NWS Atlanta, GA
NWS Atlanta, GA issued this tornado warning at Oct 25, 1997, 4:51 PM EDT for Meriwether County, Georgia. It was in force for 24 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
- Oct 25, 1997, 4:51 PM EDT (20:51 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 25, 1997, 5:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 24 min
- Issued by
- NWS Atlanta, GA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Meriwether County, GA
The radar
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:55 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 | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 4:52 PM EDT | Hail 1 | Luthersville, GA | The public reported dime to quarter size hail in and around Luthersville. |
| Oct 25, 4:58 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 EG | Luthersville, GA | The public reported thunderstorm winds knocked down three pine trees and twisted the top off of an oak tree in Luthersville. In Primrose, large trees were knocked down onto a church and another building. The steeple was also blown off the church. In Greenvill |
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, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 41 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 989 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 489 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 162 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 191 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.8
- Supercell composite
- 3.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KATL 252053 RRA TORATL GAC199-252115- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 451 PM EDT SAT OCT 25 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA ...NORTHERN MERIWETHER COUNTY AT 449 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR LUTHERSVILLE. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS IN ROCKY MOUNT AND ALVATON SHOULD ALSO SEEK SHELTER. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES AND GO TO A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT. IF YOU EXPERIENCE STORM DAMAGE TO STRUCTURES OR TREES...OR HAIL THE SIZE OF DIMES OR LARGENR...PLEASE REPORT IT BY CALLING THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT 770-486-8535.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Atlanta, GA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 4:55 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Catoosa | 35 min |
| Oct 25, 6:59 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Cherokee | 46 min |
| Oct 25, 7:25 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Forsyth | 50 min |
| Oct 25, 7:40 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Gwinnett, Hall | 35 min |
| Oct 25, 9:19 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Dade, Walker | 41 min |
| Oct 25, 10:36 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Gordon, Pickens | 54 min |
| Oct 25, 4:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Heard | 30 min |
| Oct 25, 4:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Coweta, Troup | 36 min |
| Oct 25, 4:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Meriwether | 30 min |
| Oct 25, 5:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Fayette, Pike, Spalding | 30 min |
| Oct 25, 5:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Crisp | 43 min |
| Oct 25, 5:21 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | FFC | Pike | 24 min |
| Oct 25, 5:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Spalding | 26 min |
| Oct 25, 6:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Butts, Jasper | 45 min |
| Oct 25, 6:54 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Putnam | 36 min |
| Oct 25, 7:19 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Baldwin | 26 min |
| Oct 25, 7:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Baldwin, Hancock | 31 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.