Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 22, 1997Elbert County, Georgia

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Apr 22, 1997, 6:50 PM EDT for Elbert County, Georgia. It was in force for 40 min. 4 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: Apr 22, 1997, 6:50 PM EDT (22:50 UTC)
Expired: Apr 22, 1997, 7:30 PM EDT
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Elbert County, GA

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:49 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
Apr 22, 6:56 PM EDT	Hail 1	Elberton, GA
Apr 22, 7:00 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Goss, GA
Apr 22, 7:03 PM EDT	Hail 2	Bowman, GA
Apr 22, 7:20 PM EDT	Hail 2	Elberton, GA

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
Apr 22, 6:45 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 175 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: 232 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -122 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 649 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 154 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 172 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGSP 222251 RRA
TORGSP
GAC105-222330-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
650 PM EDT TUE APR 22 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA
 
   ...ELBERT COUNTY
 
AT 650 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POSSIBLY
PRODUCING A TORNADO ENTERING WESTERN ELBERT COUNTY. THE STORM IS MOVING
TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL PASS NEAR ELBERTON BY 720 PM.
 
PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
ACTION TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES. GO TO YOUR BASEMENT...THE CENTER OF
BUILDINGrS...COVER YOUR HEAD. DO NOT GO NEAR DOORS OR WINDOWS. GET
OUT OF MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES. GET INTO A STURDY BUILDING OR A
DITCH.
 
MOYER

The office that day

Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 22, 3:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Elbert	45 min
Apr 22, 7:31 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Elbert	44 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.