Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 47, NWS Atlanta, GA

March 20, 1998Polk County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1998, 3:00 AM EST for Polk County, Georgia. It was in force for 30 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
Mar 20, 1998, 3:00 AM EST (08:00 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 1998, 3:30 AM EST
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:01 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
Mar 20, 12:45 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 95 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 1998-03-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1998-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 59 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
973 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
175 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

607 
WUUS1 KATL 200802 RRA
SVRATL
GAC233-200830-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
300 AM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA
 
   ...POLK COUNTY
 
AT 259 AM EST...DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF CEDARTOWN MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.
 
DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING
ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM
WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. BOATERS, GOLFERS, AND OTHERS
INVOLVED IN OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

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, Mar 19, 10:00 PM EST, 5 hours before
GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086-
091>098-103>113-200600-

NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
1000 PM EST THU MAR 19 1998

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHWEST
GEORGIA TONIGHT.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER ALABAMA EARLIER THIS EVENING DROPPED
DIME TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT
UNTIL 2 AM EST OVER PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA. THE ALABAMA
COUNTIES IMMEDIATELY WEST OF DADE AND WALKER COUNTIES ARE INCLUDED IN
THIS WATCH.

ALTHOUGH THE AIR OVER GEORGIA IS MORE STABLE THAN THAT OVER ALABAMA
...SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD MOVE INTO NORTHWEST GEORGIA
BETWEEN 11 PM AND MIDNIGHT.

SPOTTERS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA SHOULD
MAKE PREPARATIONS FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE WEATHER WITHIN THE NEXT FEW
HOURS.
Special weather statement, Mar 19, 10:00 PM EST, 5 hours before
GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086-
091>098-103>113-200600-

NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
1000 PM EST THU MAR 19 1998

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHWEST
GEORGIA TONIGHT.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER ALABAMA EARLIER THIS EVENING DROPPED
DIME TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT
UNTIL 2 AM EST OVER PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA. THE ALABAMA
COUNTIES IMMEDIATELY WEST OF DADE AND WALKER COUNTIES ARE INCLUDED IN
THIS WATCH.

ALTHOUGH THE AIR OVER GEORGIA IS MORE STABLE THAN THAT OVER ALABAMA
...SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD MOVE INTO NORTHWEST GEORGIA
BETWEEN 11 PM AND MIDNIGHT.

SPOTTERS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA SHOULD
MAKE PREPARATIONS FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE WEATHER WITHIN THE NEXT FEW
HOURS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 20, 4:12 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMeriwether, Troup48 min
Mar 20, 6:46 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHall14 min
Mar 20, 6:51 AM ESTTornado WarningFFCWhite24 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.