Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 761

October 24, 1997Jackson County, Florida; 72 counties in Georgia; 10 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 24, 1997, 12:30 PM CDT for Jackson County, Florida; 72 counties in Georgia; 10 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Oct 24, 1997, 12:30 PM CDT (17:30 UTC)
Expired: Oct 24, 1997, 7:00 PM CDT
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 83 counties

Jackson County, FL, Appling County, GA, Atkinson County, GA, Bacon County, GA, Baker County, GA, Baldwin County, GA, Ben Hill County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Bleckley County, GA, Brantley County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Bryan County, GA, Bulloch County, GA, Burke County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Camden County, GA, Candler County, GA, Chatham County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Coffee County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Crisp County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dodge County, GA, Dooly County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Effingham County, GA, Emanuel County, GA, Evans County, GA, Glascock County, GA, Glynn County, GA, Grady County, GA, Hancock County, GA, Houston County, GA, Irwin County, GA, Jeff Davis County, GA, Jefferson County, GA, Jenkins County, GA, Johnson County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Laurens County, GA, Lee County, GA, Liberty County, GA, Long County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, McIntosh County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Montgomery County, GA, Pierce County, GA, Pulaski County, GA, Richmond County, GA, Screven County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Tattnall County, GA, Telfair County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Tift County, GA, Toombs County, GA, Treutlen County, GA, Turner County, GA, Twiggs County, GA, Ware County, GA, Washington County, GA, Wayne County, GA, Wheeler County, GA, Wilcox County, GA, Wilkinson County, GA, Worth County, GA, Allendale County, SC, Bamberg County, SC, Barnwell County, SC, Beaufort County, SC, Berkeley County, SC, Charleston County, SC, Colleton County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Hampton County, SC, Jasper County, SC

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 24, 1:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FFC	Crisp	39 min
Oct 24, 2:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Wilcox	35 min
Oct 24, 3:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Colleton	39 min

The nearest sounding before it

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 12:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 190 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 803 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 125 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 201 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

059 
WWUS9 KMKC 241711
SEL1  
MKC WW 241711
GAZ000-SCZ000-250000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 761
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
111 PM EDT FRI OCT 24 1997

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

   SOUTHERN AND EASTERN GEORGIA                            
   SOUTHERN SOUTH CAROLINA                     
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 130 PM UNTIL 800
PM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 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 115 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES WEST OF VALDOSTA GEORGIA TO 55 MILES EAST
OF AUGUSTA 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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 760...

DISCUSSION...SQUALL LINE NOW OVER WESTERN GA EPECTED TO INTENSIFY
AND CONTINUE EAST ACROSS GA/SC LATER TODAY AHEAD OF STRONG /90 KT/
UPPER LEVEL WESTERLY JET MAX.  BOUNDARY LAYER HAS DESTABILIZED
THROUGH BOTH SURFACE HEATING AND MODEST MOISTURE INFLOW...YIELDING
CAPE TO 1000 J/KG.  GIVEN STRENGTH OF SHEAR...POTENTIAL WILL BE
GOOD FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF BOW ECHOES AND POSSIBLY BOW HEAD
TORNADOES. 

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 3/4 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
480.  MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25040.


...CORFIDI

304,0853 332,0830 332,0790 304,0814

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 24, 9:15 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf and 7 more	5 hr
Oct 24, 1:15 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Franklin and 14 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 1997 Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 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.