Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 31, NWS Tallahassee, FL

October 26, 1997Thomas County, Georgia

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at Oct 26, 1997, 3:41 PM EST for Thomas County, Georgia. It was in force for 34 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 26, 1997, 3:41 PM EST (20:41 UTC)
Expired
Oct 26, 1997, 4:15 PM EST
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Thomas County, GA

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:45 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Oct 26, 11:00 AM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 63 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-10-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1593 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 1997-10-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 154 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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 262040 RRA
TORTLH
GAC275-262115-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
341 PM EST SUN OCT 26 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST GEORGIA
 
   ...THOMAS COUNTY
 
AT 440 PM EST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
POSSIBLE TORNADO IN THOMAS COUNTY JUST NORTHEAST OF THOMASVILLE MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM IS MOVING TOWARDS PAVO.
 
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 THEN NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
IN TALLAHASSEE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 25, 8:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEBerrien46 min
Oct 26, 11:56 AM ESTTornado WarningTAEEarly34 min
Oct 26, 12:17 PM ESTTornado WarningTAEDecatur, Miller43 min
Oct 26, 12:27 PM ESTTornado WarningTAEBaker, Calhoun48 min
Oct 26, 12:40 PM ESTTornado WarningTAEDougherty50 min
Oct 26, 1:47 PM ESTTornado WarningTAEColquitt43 min
Oct 26, 2:06 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTAEGrady39 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Georgia, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.