Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 9, NWS Atlanta, GA
NWS Atlanta, GA issued this tornado warning at May 3, 1997, 2:42 AM EDT for Bartow County, Floyd County, Georgia. It was in force for 33 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
- May 3, 1997, 2:42 AM EDT (06:42 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 1997, 3:15 AM EDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Atlanta, GA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Bartow County, GA, Floyd County, GA
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 2:50 AM EDT | Hail 1 | Rome, GA | |
| May 3, 2:55 AM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Rome, GA | Several trees were downed. |
| May 3, 2:55 AM EDT | Hail 1 | Cartersville, GA | Dime to quarter size hail was reported in the area. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 9:00 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 109 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
- 888 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1099 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 51 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 120 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 242 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.0
- Supercell composite
- 5.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KATL 030643 RRA TORATL GAC015-115-030715- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 242 AM EDT SAT MAY 3 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 315 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA ...BARTOW COUNTY...FLOYD COUNTY AT 235 AM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 15 MILES WEST-SOUTHWEST OF CARTERSVILLE MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 35 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 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...PLEASE REPORT IT BY CALLING THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT 770-486-8535. l BDL
The office that day
Everything else NWS Atlanta, GA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 8:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Chattooga | 37 min |
| May 2, 8:26 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Murray | 34 min |
| May 2, 8:42 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Fannin, Gilmer | 48 min |
| May 2, 8:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Murray, Whitfield | 46 min |
| May 2, 8:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Walker | 46 min |
| May 2, 8:56 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Gordon | 34 min |
| May 2, 9:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Cobb | 21 min |
| May 2, 9:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Gilmer, Murray | 25 min |
| May 2, 9:38 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Chattooga, Walker | 52 min |
| May 2, 9:38 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Dade | 52 min |
| May 2, 10:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Catoosa, Whitfield | 28 min |
| May 2, 10:13 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Floyd | 32 min |
| May 2, 10:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Bartow, Gordon | 45 min |
| May 2, 10:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Murray | 26 min |
| May 2, 10:49 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Gilmer, Pickens | 41 min |
| May 2, 11:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Dawson, Fannin, Lumpkin | 37 min |
| May 2, 11:19 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Union | 41 min |
| May 2, 11:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Towns, White | 30 min |
| May 3, 1:10 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | FFC | Gordon, Murray, Walker, Whitfield | 3 hr |
| May 3, 1:10 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | FFC | Chattooga, Floyd | 3 hr |
| May 3, 1:10 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | FFC | Gilmer, Pickens | 3 hr |
| May 3, 1:30 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Chattooga | 45 min |
| May 3, 1:51 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Floyd | 39 min |
| May 3, 2:21 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Bartow, Gordon | 39 min |
| May 3, 2:28 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Polk | 32 min |
| May 3, 2:33 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | FFC | Polk | 42 min |
| May 3, 3:15 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Cherokee | 30 min |
| May 3, 3:29 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Dawson, Forsyth | 31 min |
| May 3, 5:05 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Haralson, Polk | 40 min |
| May 3, 6:08 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Cobb, Paulding | 37 min |
| May 3, 6:32 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | DeKalb, Fulton | 28 min |
| May 3, 6:55 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | DeKalb, Gwinnett | 35 min |
| May 3, 7:12 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Clayton, Henry | 33 min |
| May 3, 7:12 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Rockdale | 33 min |
| May 3, 7:18 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Newton, Walton | 42 min |
| May 3, 7:46 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Henry, Newton, Rockdale | 44 min |
| May 3, 8:09 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Morgan, Oconee | 51 min |
| May 3, 8:17 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Meriwether, Pike, Spalding | 43 min |
| May 3, 8:24 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Coweta, Troup | 51 min |
| May 3, 8:36 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Fayette | 54 min |
| May 3, 8:36 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Meriwether | 54 min |
| May 3, 8:52 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Newton | 53 min |
| May 3, 9:13 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Butts, Henry, Newton | 47 min |
| May 3, 9:43 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Harris, Talbot | 32 min |
| May 3, 10:09 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Jasper, Jones, Monroe | 36 min |
| May 3, 10:32 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Crawford, Peach | 38 min |
| May 3, 10:38 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Marion, Schley, Taylor | 37 min |
| May 3, 10:52 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Bibb, Houston, Twiggs | 53 min |
| May 3, 11:12 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Houston | 33 min |
| May 3, 11:36 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Johnson, Washington | 39 min |
| May 3, 12:31 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Dooly | 29 min |
| May 3, 2:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Toombs | 37 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.