Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Atlanta, GA

October 26, 1997Lamar County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this tornado warning at Oct 26, 1997, 9:21 AM EST for Lamar 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 26, 1997, 9:21 AM EST (14:21 UTC)
Expired
Oct 26, 1997, 9:45 AM EST
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Lamar County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:20 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
Oct 26, 9:30 AM ESTTornado F0Barnesville, GAHAM radio operators reported tornadoes 5 miles south and 4.5 miles northeast of Barnesville. There was no reported damage from the intermittent touchdowns.

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, 2.4 hours before the alert went out and 47 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 1997-10-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 265 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 1997-10-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 368 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
265 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-45 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
503 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
368 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
438 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KATL 261424 RRA
TORATL
GAC171-261445-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
921 AM EST SUN OCT 26 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA
 
   ...LAMAR COUNTY
 
AT 915 AM EST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF BARNESVILLE MOVING NORTHEAST 25 MPH. UPSON COUNTY EMA
REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF THOMASTON AT 904 AM.
 
 
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...GO TO AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS
A CLOSET OR BATHROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS. USE
BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.
 
IF YOU EXPERIENCE STORM DAMAGE TO STRUCTURES OR TREES...OR HAIL THE
SIZE OF DIMES OR LARGER...PLE$ASE 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 26, 6:50 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHarris85 min
Oct 26, 6:56 AM ESTTornado WarningFFCHarris94 min
Oct 26, 8:21 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMeriwether39 min
Oct 26, 8:45 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCUpson30 min
Oct 26, 8:53 AM ESTTornado WarningFFCUpson22 min
Oct 26, 9:03 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCLamar, Pike27 min
Oct 26, 9:35 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCPike, Upson25 min
Oct 26, 9:44 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMonroe31 min
Oct 26, 9:49 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCLamar26 min
Oct 26, 10:06 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCJasper39 min
Oct 26, 10:18 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMonroe12 min
Oct 26, 10:26 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCJones34 min
Oct 26, 10:31 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGreene29 min
Oct 26, 10:35 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCPutnam25 min
Oct 26, 10:55 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHancock35 min
Oct 26, 11:05 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMacon25 min
Oct 26, 11:33 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHancock, Warren42 min
Oct 26, 11:42 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHouston33 min
Oct 26, 12:09 PM ESTTornado WarningFFCDooly, Sumter36 min
Oct 26, 12:41 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHouston34 min
Oct 26, 12:53 PM ESTTornado WarningFFCHouston22 min
Oct 26, 1:10 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCLaurens, Wilkinson35 min
Oct 26, 1:12 PM ESTTornado WarningFFCBleckley, Pulaski33 min
Oct 26, 1:42 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCLaurens33 min
Oct 26, 1:50 PM ESTTornado WarningFFCLaurens10 min
Oct 26, 2:18 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCJohnson, Laurens42 min
Oct 26, 2:25 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCEmanuel, Jefferson50 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.