Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 46, NWS Birmingham, AL

April 15, 1999Quitman County, Georgia

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1999, 8:38 AM EDT for Quitman County, Georgia. It was in force for 62 min. 1 report 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, 8:38 AM EDT (12:38 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 1999, 9:40 AM EDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Birmingham, AL
Area
Whole counties

County Quitman County, GA

The radar

The Ft Rucker radar (KEOX), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:42 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, 8:45 AM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Countywide, GASeveral trees were knocked down across the northern part of the county.

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 15, 7:30 AM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 174 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 1999-04-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 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 1999-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 401 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-98 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
481 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
401 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
630 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.

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 151238 RRA
TORBHM
GAC239-151340-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
738 AM CDT THU APR 15 1999

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  QUITMAN COUNTY... IN SOUTHWESTERN GEORGIA...

* UNTIL 940 AM EDT (840 AM CDT).

* AT 837 AM EDT... WEATHER RADAR DETECTED A TORNADO...ACROSS THE
WESTERN PORTION OF QUITMAN COUNTY MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 30 TO 40
MPH.

GO TO8 THE BASEMENT...OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 7:21 AM EDTTornado WarningBMXChattahoochee, Stewart49 min
Apr 15, 8:34 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXStewart51 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.