Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 239

May 2, 199735 counties in Alabama; 60 counties in Georgia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 2, 1997, 8:00 PM CDT for 35 counties in Alabama; 60 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 2, 1997, 8:00 PM CDT (01:00 UTC)
Expired: May 3, 1997, 2:00 AM CDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 95 counties

Autauga County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Blount County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Cullman County, AL, Dallas County, AL, DeKalb County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Fayette County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lamar County, AL, Lee County, AL, Marengo County, AL, Marion County, AL, Marshall County, AL, Morgan County, AL, Perry County, AL, Pickens County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Tuscaloosa County, AL, Walker County, AL, Winston County, AL, Baldwin County, GA, Banks County, GA, Barrow County, GA, Bartow County, GA, Butts County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Chattooga County, GA, Cherokee County, GA, Clarke County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Cobb County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Dawson County, GA, DeKalb County, GA, Douglas County, GA, Fannin County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Floyd County, GA, Forsyth County, GA, Franklin County, GA, Fulton County, GA, Gilmer County, GA, Gordon County, GA, Greene County, GA, Gwinnett County, GA, Habersham County, GA, Hall County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Harris County, GA, Heard County, GA, Henry County, GA, Jackson County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Jones County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lumpkin County, GA, Madison County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Morgan County, GA, Murray County, GA, Newton County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Pickens County, GA, Pike County, GA, Polk County, GA, Putnam County, GA, Rabun County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Stephens County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Towns County, GA, Troup County, GA, Union County, GA, Upson County, GA, Walker County, GA, Walton County, GA, White County, GA

The radar

The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:03 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.

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 2, 8:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	DeKalb	57 min
May 2, 8:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Cobb	21 min
May 2, 8:11 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	DeKalb	49 min
May 2, 8:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marshall	60 min
May 2, 8:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Gilmer, Murray	25 min
May 2, 8:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Chattooga, Walker	52 min
May 2, 8:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	33 min
May 2, 8:54 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lamar	61 min
May 2, 9:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Floyd	32 min
May 2, 9:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Bartow, Gordon	45 min
May 2, 9:22 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Fayette	78 min
May 2, 9:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Murray	26 min
May 2, 9:37 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marion	48 min
May 2, 9:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Gilmer, Pickens	41 min
May 2, 9:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Walker	64 min
May 2, 10:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Dawson, Fannin, Lumpkin	37 min
May 2, 10:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Union	41 min
May 2, 10:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Lamar	65 min
May 2, 10:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Winston	32 min
May 2, 10:28 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cullman	62 min
May 2, 10:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Towns, White	30 min
May 2, 10:41 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	DeKalb, Jackson, Marshall	4 hr
May 2, 10:47 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Fayette	63 min
May 2, 10:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Habersham, Rabun	39 min
May 2, 11:06 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Blount	49 min
May 2, 11:10 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Walker	50 min
May 2, 11:12 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Cullman, Marion, Walker, Winston	3 hr
May 2, 11:12 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Fayette, Lamar	3 hr
May 2, 11:32 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marshall	43 min
May 2, 11:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Lamar	49 min
May 2, 11:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cullman	49 min
May 2, 11:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Etowah	64 min
May 3, 12:01 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	DeKalb, Jackson	59 min
May 3, 12:01 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Walker	34 min
May 3, 12:05 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Fayette	65 min
May 3, 12:10 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	FFC	Gordon, Murray, Walker, Whitfield	3 hr
May 3, 12:10 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	FFC	Chattooga, Floyd	3 hr
May 3, 12:10 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	FFC	Gilmer, Pickens	3 hr
May 3, 12:15 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Etowah	45 min
May 3, 12:22 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cherokee	48 min
May 3, 12:24 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Blount	66 min
May 3, 12:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Chattooga	45 min
May 3, 12:51 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Floyd	39 min
May 3, 1:21 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Bartow, Gordon	39 min
May 3, 1:28 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Polk	32 min
May 3, 1:33 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	FFC	Polk	42 min
May 3, 1:42 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Cullman	33 min
May 3, 1:42 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	FFC	Bartow, Floyd	33 min
May 3, 1:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Blount	50 min
May 3, 1:57 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Fayette, Lamar, Marion, Walker	4 hr
May 3, 1:57 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Cullman, Winston	4 hr
May 3, 1:57 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BMX	Blount	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 86 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: 1924 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 894 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 170 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 279 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 3.0
Supercell composite: 11.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

065 
WWUS9 KMKC 030032
SEL9  
MKC WW 030032
GAZ000-ALZ000-030700-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 239
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
732 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   NORTH GEORGIA                            
   NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ALABAMA                            

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING FROM 800 PM UNTIL
200 AM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 3/4 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES WEST OF TUSCALOOSA ALABAMA TO 10
MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF ATHENS GEORGIA.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH
NUMBER 234.  WATCH NUMBER 234 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 800 PM
CDT.  CONTINUE...WW 235...WW 236...WW 237...WW 238...

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.

DISCUSSION...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE ALONG E-W FRONTAL
BOUNDARY...WITH EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS/BOW ECHOES. OTHER MORE ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING IN THE ATLANTA AREA. THREAT FOR
DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL...ALONG WITH A FEW TORNADOES WILL CONTINUE
FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. 


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 3/4 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
550.  MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25035.


...VESCIO

341,0880 350,0830 325,0830 320,0880

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 12:00 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Lamar, Pickens	6 hr
May 3, 2:00 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee and 29 more	6 hr
May 3, 6:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers and 23 more	6 hr
May 3, 7:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Russell	6 hr
May 3, 11:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien and 30 more	6 hr
May 3, 1:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Bryan, Bulloch, Candler, Chatham, Effingham, Evans and 5 more	4 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 1997 Tornado Watches in Alabama, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.