Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Atlanta, GA

November 21, 1997Marion County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this tornado warning at Nov 21, 1997, 8:52 PM EST for Marion County, Georgia. It was in force for 33 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: Nov 21, 1997, 8:52 PM EST (01:52 UTC)
Expired: Nov 21, 1997, 9:25 PM EST
In force: 33 min
Issued by: NWS Atlanta, GA
Area: Whole counties

County Marion County, GA

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Nov 21, 9:00 PM EST	Tornado F1	Draneville, GA	West of Draneville, nearly 50 trees were knocked down and several grain silos and out-buildings were damaged. A church just southeast of Draneville on highway 30 was destroyed. Its roof was blown into a nearby orchard, where 116 pecan trees were also destroyed

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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Nov 21, 8:00 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 113 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 440 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 528 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 562 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 896 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 6.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KATL 220152 RRA
TORATL
GAC197-220230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
852 PM EST FRI NOV 21 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  925  PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA
 
   ...MARION COUNTY
 
AT 850 PM A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR JUST SOUTHWEST OF BUENA VISTA
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
 
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
BLANKET`S...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.
 
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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 21, 8:20 PM EST	Flash Flood Warning	FFC	DeKalb, Fulton	3 hr
Nov 21, 8:32 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Marion, Webster	43 min
Nov 21, 9:01 PM EST	Tornado Warning	FFC	Schley	29 min
Nov 21, 9:06 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Sumter	44 min
Nov 21, 9:27 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Macon	33 min
Nov 21, 9:29 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Webster	31 min
Nov 21, 11:15 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Houston	30 min

Nearby

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