Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 221

May 3, 200222 counties in Alabama; 79 counties in Georgia; 13 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 3, 2002, 2:15 PM CDT for 22 counties in Alabama; 79 counties in Georgia; 13 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 3, 2002, 2:15 PM CDT (19:15 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 2002, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 114 counties

Autauga County, AL, Bibb County, AL, Calhoun County, AL, Chambers County, AL, Cherokee County, AL, Chilton County, AL, Clay County, AL, Cleburne County, AL, Coosa County, AL, Elmore County, AL, Etowah County, AL, Greene County, AL, Hale County, AL, Jefferson County, AL, Lee County, AL, Perry County, AL, Randolph County, AL, Shelby County, AL, St. Clair County, AL, Sumter County, AL, Talladega County, AL, Tallapoosa County, AL, Baldwin County, GA, Banks County, GA, Barrow County, GA, Bartow County, GA, Bibb County, GA, Butts County, GA, Carroll County, GA, Chattooga County, GA, Cherokee County, GA, Clarke County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Cobb County, GA, Columbia County, GA, Coweta County, GA, Crawford County, GA, Dawson County, GA, DeKalb County, GA, Douglas County, GA, Elbert County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Floyd County, GA, Forsyth County, GA, Franklin County, GA, Fulton County, GA, Gilmer County, GA, Glascock County, GA, Gordon County, GA, Greene County, GA, Gwinnett County, GA, Habersham County, GA, Hall County, GA, Hancock County, GA, Haralson County, GA, Harris County, GA, Hart County, GA, Heard County, GA, Henry County, GA, Houston County, GA, Jackson County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Jones County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lincoln County, GA, Lumpkin County, GA, Madison County, GA, McDuffie County, GA, Meriwether County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Morgan County, GA, Murray County, GA, Muscogee County, GA, Newton County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Oglethorpe County, GA, Paulding County, GA, Peach County, GA, Pickens County, GA, Pike County, GA, Polk County, GA, Putnam County, GA, Richmond County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Stephens County, GA, Talbot County, GA, Taliaferro County, GA, Taylor County, GA, Troup County, GA, Twiggs County, GA, Union County, GA, Upson County, GA, Walker County, GA, Walton County, GA, Warren County, GA, Washington County, GA, White County, GA, Whitfield County, GA, Wilkes County, GA, Wilkinson County, GA, Abbeville County, SC, Anderson County, SC, Chester County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Greenwood County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Laurens County, SC, McCormick County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Oconee County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Union County, SC

The radar

The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:18 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.

Warnings issued inside it

18 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 2:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHaralson, Polk49 min
May 3, 2:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXShelby45 min
May 3, 3:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXClay30 min
May 3, 3:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBMXRandolph41 min
May 3, 3:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCarroll, Heard52 min
May 3, 4:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHancock, Warren40 min
May 3, 4:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCoweta38 min
May 3, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCButts, Henry44 min
May 3, 4:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEColumbia47 min
May 3, 4:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCMeriwether, Pike, Spalding42 min
May 3, 4:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCJasper22 min
May 3, 4:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCHancock, Warren48 min
May 3, 5:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCPutnam44 min
May 3, 5:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAERichmond42 min
May 3, 5:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCLamar42 min
May 3, 5:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEMcDuffie23 min
May 3, 5:31 PM CDTTornado WarningCAERichmond29 min
May 3, 5:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCGlascock, Jefferson, Washington49 min

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 58 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 2002-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1700 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 2002-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 96 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
1700 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
549 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
96 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
94 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 1:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBlount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Colbert and 22 more6 hr
May 3, 5:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCRandolph6 hr
May 2, 7:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCFannin, Gilmer, Habersham, Murray, Rabun, Towns and 3 more4 hr
May 3, 5:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBleckley, Burke, Emanuel, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson and 2 more4 hr
May 2, 8:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCherokee, Greenville, Pickens, Spartanburg, York4 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Georgia, 2002Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Alabama, 2002Severe Thunderstorm Watches in South Carolina, 2002Every severe thunderstorm watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.