Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 117, NWS Atlanta, GA

May 13, 2002Fulton County, Georgia

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 13, 2002, 3:23 PM EDT for Fulton County, Georgia. It was in force for 22 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 13, 2002, 3:23 PM EDT (19:23 UTC)
Expired
May 13, 2002, 3:45 PM EDT
In force
22 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Fulton County, GA

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:22 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
May 13, 3:30 PM EDTThunderstorm WindFairburn, GAAn off duty National Weather Service employee observed that several large trees had been blown down onto Geogia Highway 92 in Fairburn..
May 13, 3:40 PM EDTHail 0.88Crabapple, GAAn amateur radio operator reported dime to nickel size hail at the intersection of Crab Apple Road and Georgia Highway 140.

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
May 13, 1:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 47 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 2002-05-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 397 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 2002-05-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 73 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
397 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-44 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
694 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
73 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
80 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS52 KFFC 131923
SVRATL
GAC121-131945-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
321 PM EDT MON MAY 13 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHWESTERN FULTON COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL GEORGIA

* UNTIL 345 PM EDT

* AT 313 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER EXTREME EAST CENTRAL CARROLL COUNTY 
  NEAR BYERS CROSSROADS...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. HAIL TO THE SIZE OF 
  DIMES AND WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE WARNED AREA.

CITIES IN THE PATCH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE 
CAMPBELLTON...PALMETTO...UNION CITY...AND FAIRBURN...AND TELL.

IF YOU SEE WIND DAMAGE...LARGE HAIL OR SIGNIFICANT FLOODING...WAIT
UNTIL AFTER THE STORM HAS PASSED...AND THEN CALL THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE TOLL FREE AT 1 8 6 6 7 6 3 4 4 6 6.

$$

RAB

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 13, 1:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDade, Walker44 min
May 13, 3:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCherokee26 min
May 13, 3:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCFannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Towns, Union36 min
May 13, 3:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDawson, Forsyth, Hall36 min
May 13, 3:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCobb, Fulton33 min
May 13, 3:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDeKalb, Gwinnett38 min
May 13, 3:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCClayton, Fayette34 min
May 13, 3:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCDeKalb, Gwinnett31 min
May 13, 3:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHeard29 min
May 13, 3:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBanks, Barrow, Jackson36 min
May 13, 3:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCBanks, Barrow, Jackson31 min
May 13, 4:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCClarke, Madison, Oconee, Walton40 min
May 13, 4:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCClarke, Madison, Oconee, Walton37 min
May 13, 4:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCOglethorpe36 min
May 13, 5:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCOglethorpe, Wilkes28 min
May 13, 5:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGreene, Taliaferro29 min
May 13, 5:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCTaylor34 min
May 13, 6:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMacon35 min
May 13, 6:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCTaliaferro, Warren24 min
May 13, 6:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMacon29 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 2002Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2002

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.