Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 27, NWS Tallahassee, FL

October 26, 1997Decatur County, Miller County, Georgia

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at Oct 26, 1997, 12:17 PM EST for Decatur County, Miller County, Georgia. It was in force for 43 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Oct 26, 1997, 12:17 PM EST (17:17 UTC)
Expired: Oct 26, 1997, 1:00 PM EST
In force: 43 min
Issued by: NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Decatur County, GA, Miller County, GA

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:20 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Oct 26, 12:30 PM EST	Tornado F1	Mayhaw, GA	Several F1 tornado touchdowns in southern Miller County. Felled 24" diameter pines damaged a mobile home on Mayhaw Road. One home heavily damaged and nearby boat, camper and chicken house destroyed. Many power lines down countywide.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Oct 26, 7:45 AM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 77 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: 1593 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 494 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 154 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 246 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.6
Supercell composite: 8.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTLH 261716 RRA
TORTLH
GAC087-201-261800-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
1217 PM EST SUN OCT 26 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  100 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST GEORGIA
 
   ...NORTHERN DECATUR COUNTY...SOUTHERN MILLER COUNTY
 
AT 1215 PM EST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
POSSIBLE TORNADO IN NORTHERN DECATUR COUNTY NORTH OF THE TOWN OF
BRINSON. THIS STORM WILL ALSO MOVE INTO SOUTHERN MILLER COUNTY. THIS
STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS UNDER
STURDY FURNITURE IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE
PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS. A MOBILE HOME IS NOT A
SAFE REFUGE FROM A TORNADO. MOVE TO A MORE SUBSTANTIAL BUILDING.
 
IF THREATENING WEATHER IS APROACHING YOU...TAKE SHELTER.  IF YOU
HAVE SEVERE WEATHER TO REPORT... ASK YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY TO RELAY THE REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
IN TALLAHASSEE.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Tallahassee, FL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 25, 8:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Berrien	46 min
Oct 26, 11:56 AM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Early	34 min
Oct 26, 12:27 PM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Baker, Calhoun	48 min
Oct 26, 12:40 PM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Dougherty	50 min
Oct 26, 1:47 PM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Colquitt	43 min
Oct 26, 2:06 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Grady	39 min
Oct 26, 3:41 PM EST	Tornado Warning	TAE	Thomas	34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Georgia, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.