Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 242, NWS Atlanta, GA

April 18, 1998Gordon County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 18, 1998, 10:50 PM EDT for Gordon County, Georgia. It was in force for 35 min. 2 reports 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
Apr 18, 1998, 10:50 PM EDT (02:50 UTC)
Expired
Apr 18, 1998, 11:25 PM EDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Gordon County, GA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 18, 11:00 PM EDTHail 0.75Calhoun, GA
Apr 18, 11:07 PM EDTHail 0.75Calhoun, GA

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 18, 8:45 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 131 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 1998-04-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 589 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 1998-04-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 160 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
589 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1082 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
79 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
160 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
280 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
4.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

755 
WUUS1 KATL 190252 RRA
SVRATL
GAC129-190325-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
1050 PM EDT SAT APR 18 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  GORDON COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN GEORGIA

* UNTIL 1125 PM EDT

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
   CALHOUN                     AROUND 1100 PM EDT
   BLACKWOOD                   AROUND 1100 PM EDT
   FARMVILLE                   AROUND 1105 PM EDT
   SONORAVILLE                 AROUND 1105 PM EDT
   RESACA                      AROUND 1105 PM EDT
   REDBUD                      AROUND 1110 PM EDT
   NICKELSVILLE                AROUND 1110 PM EDT
   AUDUBON                     AROUND 1110 PM EDT

* AT 1049 PM EDT...  4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF OOSTANAULA... A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER RADAR... MOVING NORTHEAST
  40 MPH.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT IN OR NEAR THE WARNED AREA.
REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM BUT BE
ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. 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.
PAH/GMB

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

Local storm report, Apr 18, 4:50 PM EDT, 6 hours before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT....DELAYED REPORT....
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
450 PM EDT SAT APR 18 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1115 PM    1E PULASKI CO             GA   WIND DAMAGE
4/17/98    PULASKI                        TREES DOWN ON TRAILERS
                                          NUMEROUS POWER LINES
                                          DOWN ON COUNTY LINE
                                          ROAD.

1200 AM    DUBLIN                    GA   WIND DAMAGE
4/17/98    LAURENS                        REPORTED BY LAURENS 911
                                          NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ON
                                          POWER LINES

1100 PM    N PULASKI CO.             GA   WIND DAMAGE
4/17/98    PULASKI                        REPORTED BY PULASKI EMA
                                          DIRECTOR HUNDREDS OF
                                          TREES DOWN. SO FAR 11
                                          HOMES DAMAGED OR
                                          DESTROYED. MOST OF THE
                                          DAMAGE DUE TO FALLEN
                                          TREES.

1157 AM    4SE RINGGOLD              GA   WIND DAMAGE
4/17/98    CATOOSA                        REPORTED BY CATOOSA
                                          SHERIFF DEPARTMENT.
                                          HOUSE WITH ROOF DAMAGE
                                          NUMEROUS TRESS DOWN.

150 AM     JUNO                      GA   WIND DAMAGE
4/17/98    DAWSON                         REPORTED BY DAWSON
                                          911. NUMEROUS TREES
                                          DOWN.

1200 AM    KINGSTON                  GA   WIND DAMAGE
4/17/98    FLOYD                          REPORTED BY FLOYD EMA
                                          POWERS LINES DOWN BY
                                          FALLING TREES.

755  PM    SANDERSVILLE              GA   0.75 INCH HAIL
4/17/98    WASHINGTON                     DIME SIZE HAIL AND
                                          LARGER. REPORTED
                                          BY PUBLIC BETWEEN
                                          755 AND 757 PM.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 18, 8:42 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCDade33 min
Apr 18, 8:50 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCCatoosa, Walker50 min
Apr 18, 9:40 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCWalker, Whitfield35 min
Apr 18, 10:16 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCFloyd34 min
Apr 18, 11:03 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCGordon32 min
Apr 18, 11:54 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningFFCWhitfield2 hr
Apr 19, 1:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBibb, Houston, Twiggs33 min
Apr 19, 1:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCJones35 min
Apr 19, 1:46 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCJones, Twiggs34 min
Apr 19, 1:46 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCBaldwin34 min
Apr 19, 2:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBaldwin, Hancock35 min
Apr 19, 2:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHancock, Warren31 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.