Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 555, NWS Atlanta, GA

June 4, 1998Bartow County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 4, 1998, 2:15 PM EDT for Bartow 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
Jun 4, 1998, 2:15 PM EDT (18:15 UTC)
Expired
Jun 4, 1998, 2:50 PM EDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Bartow County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:17 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
Jun 4, 2:20 PM EDTHail 0.75White, GA
Jun 4, 2:55 PM EDTThunderstorm WindCartersville, GABartow county 911 reported several trees were blown down.

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
Jun 4, 2:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 102 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 12:00Z on 1998-06-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2419 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 12:00Z on 1998-06-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 85 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
2419 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
685 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
67 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
4.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

587 
WUUS1 KATL 041816 RRA
SVRATL
GAC015-041850-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
215 PM EDT THU JUN 4 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 250 PM EDT

* AT 214 PM EDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER
  RADAR  IN THE VICINITY OF CARTERSVILLE MOVING EAST AT 30 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. 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.

WRS

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, Jun 4, 10:50 AM EDT, 3 hours 25 minutes before
GAZ085>091-098>103-113-041600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
1050 AM EDT THU JUN 4 1998

... HEAT ADVISORY FOR SOUTH GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON...

A HEAT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THAT PORTION OF GEORGIA
ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM PLAINS IN SUMTER COUNTY TO DUBLIN
IN LAURENS TO SYLVANIA IN SCREVEN COUNTY.

HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE OVER THE STATE THIS AFTERNOON... BRINGING
HOT TEMPERATURES TO PORTIONS OF SOUTH GEORGIA. AFTERNOON HIGHS
ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN THE MID AND UPPER 90S...PRODUCING HEAT
INDICES IN THE 105 TO 110 DEGREE RANGE.

THE HEAT INDEX IS A MEASURE OF HOW HOT IT FEELS WHEN THE EFFECTS OF
HEAT ARE COMBINED WITH HUMIDITY. A HEAT INDEX OF 105 DEGREES IS
CONSIDERED TO BE THE LEVEL WHERE PEOPLE BEGIN TO EXPERIENCE EXTREME
DISCOMFORT OR STRESS.

PEOPLE WORKING OUTDOORS... THOSE LIVING IN PLACES WITH LITTLE
VENTILATION... AND THOSE IN POOR HEALTH SHOULD TAKE PRECAUTIONS AS
PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO THESE CONDITIONS MAY LEAD TO HEAT EXHAUSTION OR
POSSIBLE HEAT STROKE.

DRINK PLENTY OF NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. WEAR LIGHT-WEIGHT... LIGHT-
COLORED... LOOSE-FITTING CLOTHING. WEAR A HAT TO SHIELD YOURSELF
FROM THE SUN... AND USE A SUNSCREEN TO REDUCE POSSIBLE SUNBURN.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 4, 1:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMadison37 min
Jun 4, 1:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMadison26 min
Jun 4, 2:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMurray, Whitfield32 min
Jun 4, 2:26 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCBartow, Cherokee34 min
Jun 4, 2:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCWilkes32 min
Jun 4, 3:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCFloyd50 min
Jun 4, 3:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBartow36 min
Jun 4, 4:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCPolk47 min
Jun 4, 4:23 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCPolk37 min
Jun 4, 4:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCherokee50 min
Jun 4, 4:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCFulton50 min
Jun 4, 4:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCFannin, Union36 min
Jun 4, 5:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCPaulding35 min
Jun 4, 5:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCForsyth, Gwinnett47 min
Jun 4, 5:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCobb, Paulding34 min
Jun 4, 5:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCTowns, White35 min
Jun 4, 5:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDeKalb, Fulton32 min
Jun 4, 5:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGwinnett31 min
Jun 4, 6:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCFloyd, Polk48 min
Jun 4, 6:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCClarke35 min
Jun 4, 6:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBarrow, Oconee51 min
Jun 4, 6:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBartow, Paulding49 min
Jun 4, 6:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCClayton, Fulton36 min
Jun 4, 6:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCarroll, Haralson34 min
Jun 4, 7:11 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCCarroll19 min
Jun 4, 7:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDouglas35 min
Jun 4, 7:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCFulton36 min
Jun 4, 7:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDeKalb, Gwinnett33 min
Jun 4, 7:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCFayette31 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.