Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 44, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 15, 1999Chattahoochee County, Stewart County, Georgia

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1999, 7:21 AM EDT for Chattahoochee County, Stewart County, Georgia. It was in force for 49 min. 5 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 15, 1999, 7:21 AM EDT (11:21 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 1999, 8:10 AM EDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Chattahoochee County, GA, Stewart County, GA

The radar

The Maxwell AFB radar (KMXX), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:22 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
Apr 15, 7:40 AM EDTHail 1.75Omaha, GA
Apr 15, 7:40 AM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Omaha, GA
Apr 15, 7:55 AM EDTHail 1Louvale, GA
Apr 15, 7:55 AM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Louvale, GA
Apr 15, 8:20 AM EDTHail 0.75Renfroe, GADime size or larger hail fell in the city of Renfroe.

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, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 132 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 1999-04-15Temperature 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°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 1999-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 173 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
2381 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
173 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
463 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.

999 
WFUS1 KBHM 151122 RRA
TORBHM
GAC053-259-151210-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
621 AM CDT THU APR 15 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED...A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CHATTAHOOCHEE COUNTY... IN WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA...
  STEWART COUNTY... IN WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA...

* UNTIL 810 AM EDT (710 AM CDT).

* AT 719 AM EDT... WEATHER RADAR DETECTED A TORNADO ACROSS THE
WESTERN PORTION OF STEWART COUNTY.  THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING
THE DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AND WILL ALSO MOVE
INTO PORTIONS OF CHATTAHOOCHEE COUNTY.

GO TO THE BASEMENT...OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Apr 15, 2:23 AM EDT, 4 hours 58 minutes before
ALZ001>003-150640-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
123 AM CDT THU APR 15 1999

THE TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...

IN ALABAMA

   ...LAUDERDALE... COLBERT... FRANKLIN

THE STRONGER STORMS HAVE MOVED TO THE EAST AND SOUTH OF THE AREA.
ONLY SOME MODERATE RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE OVER THESE COUNTIES FOR THE
NEXT FEW HOURS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 8:34 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXStewart51 min
Apr 15, 8:38 AM EDTTornado WarningBMXQuitman62 min
Apr 15, 8:50 AM EDTTornado WarningBMXStewart50 min
Apr 15, 9:41 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXQuitman, Stewart49 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Georgia, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999

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.