Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 22, NWS Atlanta, GA

February 17, 1998Heard County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 17, 1998, 5:29 AM EST for Heard County, Georgia. It was in force for 31 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
Feb 17, 1998, 5:29 AM EST (10:29 UTC)
Expired
Feb 17, 1998, 6:00 AM EST
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Heard County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:31 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Feb 17, 5:45 AM ESTHail 0.75Franklin, GADime size hail was reported by Heard county 911.

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 nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 59 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1998-02-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1998-02-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 334 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
468 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
334 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
408 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.

396 
WUUS1 KATL 171030 RRA
SVRATL
GAC149-171100-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
529 AM EST TUE FEB 17 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
 
   ...HEARD COUNTY
 
AT 525 AM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING
NORTH AT 75 MPH.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DONT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
IF YOU EXPERIENCE STORM DAMAGE TO STRUCTURES OR TREES...OR HAIL THE
SIZE OF DIMES OR LARGER...PLEASE REPORT IT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE BY CALLING 770-486-8535.
 
BDL

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Feb 17, 2:51 AM EST, 2 hours 38 minutes before
GAZ001>166-170850

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
350 AM EST TUE FEB 17 1998

TORNADO WATCH #41 FOR SOUTHEAST GEORGIA HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
NO SEVERE WEATHER IS OCCURRING IN THIS AREA. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE
NIGHT... BUT THESE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE.
Special weather statement, Feb 17, 3:50 AM EST, 1 hour 39 minutes before
GAZ001>166-170850

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
350 AM EST TUE FEB 17 1998

TORNADO WATCH 41 FOR SOUTHEAST GEORGIA HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
NO SEVERE WEATHER IS OCCURRING IN THIS AREA. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE
NIGHT... BUT THESE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Atlanta, GA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 17, 5:46 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCarroll29 min
Feb 17, 6:17 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCPolk58 min
Feb 17, 7:46 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCobb, Fulton44 min
Feb 17, 8:17 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDeKalb28 min
Feb 17, 8:27 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCClayton, Henry, Rockdale33 min
Feb 17, 8:27 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGwinnett33 min
Feb 17, 8:35 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCLumpkin25 min
Feb 17, 8:42 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHall33 min
Feb 17, 8:44 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCSpalding31 min
Feb 17, 8:50 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBanks, Jackson25 min
Feb 17, 8:50 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBarrow25 min
Feb 17, 8:59 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCNewton, Rockdale31 min
Feb 17, 9:08 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCWalton37 min
Feb 17, 10:07 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCOglethorpe38 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

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.