Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Atlanta, GA

October 25, 1997Pike County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this tornado warning at Oct 25, 1997, 5:21 PM EDT for Pike County, Georgia. It was in force for 24 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
Oct 25, 1997, 5:21 PM EDT (21:21 UTC)
Expired
Oct 25, 1997, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Pike County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:24 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
Oct 25, 5:25 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50 EGHollonville, GASevere thunderstorm winds in the Hollonville and Williamson areas knocked trees down across roads and onto two houses, causing considerable damage. Pike county 911 reported several trees were knocked down on a mobile home northeast of Zebulon.

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, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 33 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 1997-10-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 989 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 1997-10-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 162 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KATL 252124 RRA
TORATL
GAC231-252145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
521 PM EDT SAT OCT 25 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA
 
   ...NORTHERN PIKE COUNTY
 
AT 520 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR HOLLONVILLE IN
NORTHWEST PIKE COUNTY MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
 
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 LARGER...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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 25, 4:55 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCatoosa35 min
Oct 25, 6:59 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCherokee46 min
Oct 25, 7:25 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCForsyth50 min
Oct 25, 7:40 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGwinnett, Hall35 min
Oct 25, 9:19 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDade, Walker41 min
Oct 25, 10:36 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGordon, Pickens54 min
Oct 25, 4:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHeard30 min
Oct 25, 4:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCoweta, Troup36 min
Oct 25, 4:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMeriwether30 min
Oct 25, 4:51 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCMeriwether24 min
Oct 25, 5:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCFayette, Pike, Spalding30 min
Oct 25, 5:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCrisp43 min
Oct 25, 5:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCSpalding26 min
Oct 25, 6:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCButts, Jasper45 min
Oct 25, 6:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCPutnam36 min
Oct 25, 7:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBaldwin26 min
Oct 25, 7:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBaldwin, Hancock31 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.