Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 1997
Tornado Watch 771
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 25, 1997, 4:15 PM CDT for 9 counties in Alabama; 60 counties in Georgia. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Oct 25, 1997, 4:15 PM CDT (21:15 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 25, 1997, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 69 counties
Barbour County, AL, Bullock County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Dale County, AL, Henry County, AL, Houston County, AL, Lee County, AL, Macon County, AL, Russell County, AL, Atkinson County, GA, Bacon County, GA, Baker County, GA, Ben Hill County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Bibb County, GA, Bleckley County, GA, Calhoun County, GA, Chattahoochee County, GA, Clay County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Coffee County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Crawford County, GA, Crisp County, GA, Decatur County, GA, Dodge County, GA, Dooly County, GA, Dougherty County, GA, Early County, GA, Grady County, GA, Harris County, GA, Houston County, GA, Irwin County, GA, Jeff Davis County, GA, Johnson County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Laurens County, GA, Lee County, GA, Macon County, GA, Marion County, GA, Miller County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Montgomery County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pulaski County, GA, Quitman County, GA, Randolph County, GA, Schley County, GA, Seminole County, GA, Stewart County, GA, Sumter County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Telfair County, GA, Terrell County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Tift County, GA, Treutlen County, GA, Turner County, GA, Twiggs County, GA, Upson County, GA, Ware County, GA, Webster County, GA, Wheeler County, GA, Wilcox County, GA, Wilkinson County, GA, Worth County, GA
Warnings issued inside it
19 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 4:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Worth | 30 min |
| Oct 25, 4:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FFC | Crisp | 43 min |
| Oct 25, 4:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Colquitt, Worth | 44 min |
| Oct 25, 4:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Turner | 48 min |
| Oct 25, 5:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Dougherty | 45 min |
| Oct 25, 5:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Tift | 48 min |
| Oct 25, 5:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Atkinson, Coffee | 65 min |
| Oct 25, 5:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Irwin | 44 min |
| Oct 25, 5:46 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | JAX | Atkinson, Coffee | 59 min |
| Oct 25, 6:15 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TAE | Coffee, Dale | 45 min |
| Oct 25, 6:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Ware | 64 min |
| Oct 25, 6:44 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TAE | Houston | 46 min |
| Oct 25, 6:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Tift | 48 min |
| Oct 25, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Bacon, Pierce | 62 min |
| Oct 25, 7:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TAE | Dale | 30 min |
| Oct 25, 7:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Berrien | 46 min |
| Oct 25, 7:42 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TAE | Henry, Houston | 48 min |
| Oct 25, 8:10 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | JAX | Bacon, Coffee | 7 hr |
| Oct 25, 8:10 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | JAX | Bacon, Coffee | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 143 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
- 989 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 489 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 162 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 191 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.8
- Supercell composite
- 3.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
398 WWUS9 KMKC 252102 SEL1 MKC WW 252102 ALZ000-GAZ000-260200- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 771 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 502 PM EDT SAT OCT 25 1997 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST ALABAMA SOUTHERN GEORGIA EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 515 PM UNTIL 1000 PM EDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF DOTHAN ALABAMA TO 40 MILES NORTH OF WAYCROSS 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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 767. WATCH NUMBER 767 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 515 PM EDT. CONTINUE...WW 765...WW 766...WW 768...WW 769...WW 770... DISCUSSION...POTENTIAL FOR SUPERCELLS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES ACROSS SOUTH GEORGIA THIS EVENING...WHERE MODEST LOW LEVEL INFLOW OF VERY MOIST AIR WILL CONTINUE IN ENVIRONMENT OF MODERATE VERTICAL SHEAR. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 520. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25035. ...CORFIDI 325,0854 325,0822 304,0822 305,0854
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25, 8:30 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Colbert, Cullman and 18 more | 7 hr |
| Oct 25, 9:00 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Cleburne | 6 hr |
| Oct 25, 1:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington and 13 more | 7 hr |
| Oct 25, 3:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Colbert, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Marion and 2 more | 6 hr |
| Oct 25, 3:45 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Autauga, Baldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee and 15 more | 5 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Georgia, 1997Tornado Watches in Alabama, 1997Every 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.