Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 91

March 3, 199710 counties in Alabama; 63 counties in Georgia; Oconee County, South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 3, 1997, 4:00 AM CST for 10 counties in Alabama; 63 counties in Georgia; Oconee County, South Carolina. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 3, 1997, 4:00 AM CST (10:00 UTC)
Expired: Mar 3, 1997, 9:00 AM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 74 counties

Calhoun County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Lee County, AL, Macon County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Banks County, GA, Barrow County, GA, Bartow County, GA, Bibb County, GA, Butts County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Catoosa County, GA, Chattooga County, GA, Cherokee County, GA, Clarke County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Cobb County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Crawford County, GA, Dade 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, 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, Lamar County, GA, Lumpkin County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Morgan County, GA, Murray County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Newton County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pickens County, GA, Pike County, GA, Polk County, GA, Rabun County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Stephens County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Towns County, GA, Troup County, GA, Union County, GA, Upson County, GA, Walker County, GA, Walton County, GA, White County, GA, Whitfield County, GA, Oconee County, SC

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:03 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

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 3, 4:10 AM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Coosa, Tallapoosa	65 min
Mar 3, 4:23 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Chattooga, Floyd	37 min
Mar 3, 4:38 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Gordon, Whitfield	37 min
Mar 3, 5:40 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FFC	Murray	35 min

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 48 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: 71 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -26 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1288 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 174 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 234 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

356 
WWUS9 KMKC 030928 COR
SEL1  
MKC WW 030928 COR
GAZ000-ALZ000-031500-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 91...CORRECTED FOR REPLACEMENT TIME IN PART B
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
428 AM EST MON MAR 3 1997

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

MUCH OF NORTH GEORGIA
PARTS OF NORTHEAST ALABAMA

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY MORNING UNTIL 1000 AM 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 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF COLUMBUS GEORGIA TO 55 MILES
EAST OF CHATTANOOGA TENNESSEE.

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.

B..OTHER WATCH INFORMATION.. THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 89...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 90.  WATCH NUMBER 89...90
WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 500 AM EST.
$$

C...TORNADOES AND A FEW SVR TSTMS WITH HAIL SFC AND ALF TO 1 1/4
INCHES.  EXTRM TURBC AND SFC WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CBS
WITH MAX TOPS TO 400.  MEAN WIND VECTOR 23050.

D...STG/SVR TSTMS CONT MOVG ACRS ERN AL WITH SVRL OF THE STMS
EXHIBITING BOW ECHO STRUCTURES WITH PERIODIC MESOCYCLONE DVLPMT.
ACTVTY XPCD TO CONT INTO NRN GA THIS MORNING ALONG SLOLY RETREATING
OUTFLOW BNDRY. GREATEST TORNADO THREAT WL OCR INVOF SFC LOW AS IT
MOVES ALONG BNDRY.

E...OTR TSTMS... THIS WATCH REPLACES..WW 89..WW 90..

...VESCIO

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 2, 10:00 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Autauga, Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke and 20 more	6 hr
Mar 2, 11:45 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Blount, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah and 10 more	5 hr

Nearby

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