Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Tallahassee, FL

May 3, 1998Berrien County, Lanier County, Georgia

NWS Tallahassee, FL issued this tornado warning at May 3, 1998, 3:02 PM EDT for Berrien County, Lanier County, Georgia. It was in force for 33 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: May 3, 1998, 3:02 PM EDT (19:02 UTC)
Expired: May 3, 1998, 3:35 PM EDT
In force: 33 min
Issued by: NWS Tallahassee, FL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Berrien County, GA, Lanier County, GA

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 3, 3:15 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	Ray City, GA	Golfball sized hail reported along U.S. Highway 129 about 4 miles north of Ray City.
May 3, 3:20 PM EDT	Hail 1	Lakeland, GA	Quarter sized hail reported three miles north of Lakeland.

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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 3, 2:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 139 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1084 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 477 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 116 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTLH 031902 RRA
TORTLH
GAC019-173-031935-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
302 PM EDT SUN MAY 3 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TALLAHASSEE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN BERRIEN COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA
  LANIER COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA

* UNTIL 335 PM EDT

* AT 259 PM EDT... DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER SOUTHERN BERRIEN COUNTY JUST NORTH OF RAY CITY...OR
  ABOUT 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF LAKELAND MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...
NORTH OF LAKELAND                   BY 310 PM EDT

THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN
THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 11:01 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Clay	34 min
May 3, 11:09 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Randolph	51 min
May 3, 12:35 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Dougherty, Worth	50 min
May 3, 1:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Colquitt	47 min
May 3, 1:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Colquitt	46 min
May 3, 2:27 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Cook	33 min
May 3, 2:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Berrien	46 min
May 3, 3:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Early	47 min
May 3, 4:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Calhoun, Dougherty	49 min
May 3, 4:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Randolph	49 min
May 3, 5:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Terrell	47 min
May 3, 6:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Lee	45 min
May 3, 6:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TAE	Worth	49 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Georgia, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes 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.