Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 100

March 13, 199721 counties in Alabama; 13 counties in Florida; 40 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 13, 1997, 5:00 PM CST for 21 counties in Alabama; 13 counties in Florida; 40 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 13, 1997, 5:00 PM CST (23:00 UTC)
Expired: Mar 13, 1997, 11:00 PM CST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 74 counties

Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Clay County, AL, Coffee County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Covington County, AL, Crenshaw County, AL, Dale County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Geneva County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Lee County, AL, Macon County, AL, Montgomery County, AL, Pike County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Russell County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Bay County, FL, Calhoun County, FL, Franklin County, FL, Gadsden County, FL, Gulf County, FL, Holmes County, FL, Jackson County, FL, Leon County, FL, Liberty County, FL, Okaloosa County, FL, Wakulla County, FL, Walton County, FL, Washington County, FL, Baker County, GA, Butts County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Clay County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Crawford County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Grady County, GA, Harris County, GA, Heard County, GA, Henry County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lee County, GA, Macon County, GA, Marion County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Newton County, GA, Pike County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Schley County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Troup County, GA, Upson County, GA, Webster County, GA

Warnings issued inside it

8 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 13, 5:03 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Harris	27 min
Mar 13, 5:10 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Talbot	50 min
Mar 13, 5:18 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Pike	27 min
Mar 13, 5:55 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Elmore, Macon	50 min
Mar 13, 6:08 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Tallapoosa	52 min
Mar 13, 6:40 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Walton	50 min
Mar 13, 7:01 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lee	44 min
Mar 13, 9:07 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Barbour	38 min

The nearest sounding before it

Eglin AFB/Valpar, FL (KVPS), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 118 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: 173 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -76 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 572 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 164 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 182 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

762 
WWUS9 KMKC 132243
SEL0  
MKC WW 132243
ALZ000-FLZ000-GAZ000-140500-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 100
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
543 PM EST THU MAR 13 1997

A...THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR

   PARTS OF EASTERN ALABAMA                            
   PARTS OF THE PANHANDLE OF FLORIDA                            
   PARTS OF WESTERN GEORGIA                            
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT
EST.

TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND DAMAGING
THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.


THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF APALACHICOLA FLORIDA TO
40 MILES NORTH OF LA GRANGE GEORGIA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
$$

C...TORNADOES AND A FEW SVR TSTMS WITH HAIL SFC AND ALF TO 1 3/4
INCHES.  EXTRM TURBC AND SFC WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CBS
WITH MAX TOPS TO 450.  MEAN WIND VECTOR 22040.

D...CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS INTENSIFYING ALONG WARM FRONTAL
BOUNDARY WHILE SECOND CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING WATCH
AREA FROM THE WEST. STORMS WILL INTENSIFY DUE TO CONTINUED BOUNDARY
INTERACTIONS AS AIR MASS MOIST AND WEAKLY UNSTABLE.  

E...OTR TSTMS... 

...ROGASH

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 1997 Tornado Watches in Alabama, 1997 Tornado Watches in Florida, 1997 Every tornado watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.